Wound Position is Associated with Morphological Stability and Quantitative Accuracy in Murine Skin Healing Models

Intractable skin ulcers, including diabetic foot and pressure ulcers, are impactful clinical challenges. Therefore, appropriate skin wound models are required to develop treatments that promote wound healing. Many studies have used mice with defects covering the entire skin thickness. However, the location of the wound varied depending on the study, such as the midline of the back of the mouse or wounds created bilaterally on both sides of the spine. Wounds at the midline of the back heal in a circular shape. However, wounds on both sides of the spine can be distorted by movement. Therefore, differences in the location of the wound affected closure. Furthermore, although closure rate is commonly used to evaluate wound healing, accurate quantification is difficult using conventional imaging because camera height is not consistent. The use of a digital camera designed for skin observation (Dermo camera) enables wound imaging from a fixed position. Therefore, this protocol proposes methods for selecting the optimal wound site and performing wound imaging that are suitable for evaluating wound healing in mice and for histological analysis of extracellular matrix remodeling, including re-epithelialization and fibrosis.