Figure 7
Topical application of cathelicidin-OA1 accelerated healing of full- thickness skin wounds in mice. (A) Macroscopic view of wound healing on days 0, 4, 7, and 10. Two 8 × 8 mm wounds were created on the back of each mouse, with wounds treated twice a day with 20 μl of saline (vehicle), 20 μM cathelicidin-OA1, or 20 μM EGF and 20 μM cathelicidin-OA1, respectively. Images of representative mice were taken on days 0, 4, 7, and 10 post-operation. (B) Cathelicidin-OA1 illustrated time- and dose-dependent wound-healing activity in the mouse model. Wound closure was assessed by morphometrical analysis of wound areas (Image J, NIH). Wound residual area was determined (n = 10) from three independent experiments. *P < 0.05 indicates the group treated with cathelicidin-OA1 (20 μM and 40 μM) was significantly different from the negative control (Students t-test). (C) Histopathological examination of vehicle and cathelicidin-OA1-treated (20 μM) healing skins (post-operative days 5 and 9) stained with H&E. Neo-epithelium marked by yellow dotted line was much longer at the same magnitude of enlargement in cathelicindin-OA1-treated mice than in vehicle controls (NE: neo-epithelium; GT: granulation tissue; Es: eschar). (D,E,F) Epidermal thickness in mice; histological scores of granulation thickness and epidermal and dermal regeneration. All bars represent means ± SD from three independent experiments and six different sections for each experiment. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 and ***P < 0.0001 (cathelicidin-OA1 treatment vs control).
