Proliferation and migration of epidermal keratinocytes are essential for proper cutaneous wound closure after injury. av integrins and several of their ligands-vitronectin, TGFb and thrombospondin-are upregulated in healing wounds. However, the role of av integrins in wound re-epithelialization is unknown. Here, we show that genetic depletion or antibody-mediated blockade of pan-integrin av, or the specific heterodimer avb6, in keratinocytes limited epidermal proliferation at the wound edge and prevented reepithelialization of wounded human organotypic skin both in vivo and in vitro. While we did not observe a migration defect upon av blockade in vivo, av was necessary for keratinocyte migration over longer distances in organotypic skin. Integrin av is required for local activation of latent TGFb, and the wound healing defect in the setting of integrin av loss was rescued by exogenous, active TGFb, indicating that the av-TGFb signaling axis is a critical component of the normal epidermal wound healing program. As chronic wounds are associated with decreased TGFb signaling, restoration of TGFb activity may have therapeutic utility in some clinical settings.