The murine excisional wound model: Contraction revisited

Area of Science:

• Wound Healing Research
• Regenerative Medicine
• Animal Models in Biology

Background:

• Rodent models are widely used for wound healing studies.
• A common perception is that rodent wounds heal primarily through contraction, unlike human wound healing which emphasizes re-epithelialization.
• This perceived difference limits the applicability of rodent models for studying human wound healing processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present evidence supporting the validity and reproducibility of simple murine excisional wounds as a healing model.
• To demonstrate that these wounds heal through a combination of contraction and re-epithelialization.
• To address the limitations in current rodent wound models.

Main Methods:

• Measurement of re-epithelialization and contraction in full-thickness excisional wounds.
• Utilized three distinct mouse strains: BALB/c, db/+, and db/db.
• Quantified the contribution of both healing mechanisms to initial wound closure.

Main Results:

• Rodent wounds exhibited both contraction and re-epithelialization, each contributing approximately 40-60% to initial closure.
• Significant wound contraction (up to 80%) was observed, but a substantial portion occurred after epithelial closure.
• Re-epithelialization was clearly measurable over a well-defined wound bed in the excisional model.

Conclusions:

• Simple excisional rodent wounds represent a valid and reproducible model for studying wound healing.
• These models effectively demonstrate both contraction and re-epithelialization, mirroring aspects of human healing.
• The findings support the use of murine excisional wounds for research into complex wound healing mechanisms.