Skin Wound Healing Model - Excisional Wounding and Assessment of Lesion Area

Abstract

This protocol focus on the most common surgical mouse model of cutaneous excisional wound healing used to study the cellular and molecular pathways involved in wound repair and regeneration as well as in translational applications such as the evaluation of new therapeutic modalities. This model allows the monitoring of the wound closure and the tissue collection for histological and molecular analyses. Briefly, full skin thickness excisional wounds are created on the dorsum of the mouse as the excision extends through the panniculosus carnosus. Wounds larger and minor diameters are then regularly measured and wound closure rate is calculated based on wound area relative to the original size.