A Surgical Device to Study the Efficacy of Bioengineered Skin Substitutes in Mice Wound Healing Models

Due to the poor regenerative capacity of adult mammalian skin, there is a need to develop effective skin substitutes for promoting skin regeneration after a severe wound. However, the complexity of skin biology has made it difficult to enable perfect regeneration of skin. Thus, animal models are being used to test potential skin substitutes. Murine models are valuable but their healing process involves dermal contraction. We have developed a device called a dome that is able to eliminate the contraction effect of rodent skin while simultaneously housing a bioengineered skin graft. The dome comes in two models, which enables researchers to evaluate the cells that contribute in wound healing from neighboring intact tissue during skin healing/regeneration. This protocol simplifies grafting of skin substitutes, eliminates the contraction effect of surrounding skin, and summarizes a simple method for animal surgery for wound healing and skin regeneration studies.