Analysis of skin graft survival using green fluorescent protein transgenic mice

Skin grafting has become a basic and established operation technique; however, it is not clear how skin grafts adapt to recipient beds and replace their functions. In this study, we analyzed the origin of cells in adapted transplants by using green fluorescent protein (GFP) transgenic mice, which emits green fluorescence in the whole body. The dorsal skins of GFP transgenic mice were transplanted to the back of wild-type mice. Similarly, wild-type skins were transplanted to the back of GFP transgenic mice. Since transplantation with full thickness back skin was not successful due to severe immunorejection, tail skins, which contain fewer epidermal Langerhans cells, were used for the experiments. Six months after transplantation, immunohistochemical analysis of the grafts revealed that tissues derived from ectodermal origin such as the epidermis, hair follicles, and sebaceous glands survived in transplanted grafts, but that other tissues such as the dermis, nerves and blood vessels are partly replaced by tissues from recipient beds. Our results further demonstrated that transplantation analyses with GFP transgenic mice could be a useful approach to study the origin of cells in transplants.