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Updated: Nov 17, 2025

Human Ex vivo Wound Model and Whole-Mount Staining Approach to Accurately Evaluate Skin Repair
Published on: February 17, 2021
Apelin/APJ-Manipulated CaMKK/AMPK/GSK3β Signaling Works as an Endogenous Counterinjury Mechanism in Promoting the
Zhi-Ling Lou1,2,3, Chen-Xi Zhang3,4,5, Jia-Feng Li3,4,5
1Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, China.
Abstract:
A random-pattern skin flap plays an important role in the field of wound repair; the mechanisms that influence the survival of random-pattern skin flaps have been extensively studied but little attention has been paid to endogenous counterinjury substances and mechanism. Previous reports reveal that the apelin-APJ axis is an endogenous counterinjury mechanism that has considerable function in protecting against infection, inflammation, oxidative stress, necrosis, and apoptosis in various organs. As an in vivo study, our study proved that the apelin/APJ axis protected the skin flap by alleviating vascular oxidative stress and the apelin/APJ axis works as an antioxidant stress factor dependent on CaMKK/AMPK/GSK3β signaling. In addition, the apelin/APJ-manipulated CaMKK/AMPK/GSK3β-dependent mechanism improves HUVECs' resistance to oxygen and glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R), reduces ROS production and accumulation, maintained the normal mitochondrial membrane potential, and suppresses oxidative stress in vitro. Besides, activation of the apelin/APJ axis promotes vascular migration and angiogenesis under relative hypoxia condition through CaMKK/AMPK/GSK3β signaling. In a word, we provide new evidence that the apelin/APJ axis is an effective antioxidant and can significantly improve the vitality of random flaps, so it has potential be a promising clinical treatment.
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