Rac1 Is Required for Epithelial Stem Cell Function during Dermal and Oral Mucosal Wound Healing but Not for Tissue Homeostasis in Mice
Figure 3
Absence of oral wound-healing in K14CreRac1 F/F mice.
(A) K14CreRac1F/F mice show a complete absence of oral wound closure when compared to control littermates (p<0.0001). The percentage of mice exhibiting open oral wounds after surgical incision in K14CreRac1F/F mice (red squares, n = 17) and control mice (blue circle, n = 10) are depicted at the indicated days. (B) left panel, representative control mouse showing the intraoral wound site stained with surgical dye (black spot) 3.5 days after injury. Middle panels, H&E stained sections of control mice 2 and 3.5 days after oral injury showing active epithelial tongue migration over the fibrin clot by day 2, and complete closure of the wound site by day 3.5. Right panels, higher magnification (20x) of the corresponding area depicted with dashed rectangles in the middle panels. (C) Left panel, K14CreRac1F/F mouse showing the intraoral surgical anatomical site stained in black (surgical dye) at day 3.5 after surgery. Middle panel, H&E staining of K14CreRac1F/F mice show lack of healing capacity of the oral mucosa with a complete absence of an epithelial tongue. Right panel, high magnification (20x) of the open wound depicted by a dashed rectangle in the middle panel.