Scarless Wound Healing: Secrets of the Spiny Mouse

Skin autotomy is an effective defense against predators. In these rodents, large, deep lesions regenerate (including hair follicles and ear cartilage), with no scarring.

Scarless healing of adult skin has been a holy grail for dermatologists, surgeons, and patients alike. Adult mammalian skin is normally unable to regenerate epidermally derived adnexal structures, including follicles. Exceptions are rabbits and members of the genus Mus (laboratory mouse).

Seifert and colleagues closely examined skin properties of the African spiny mouse (Acomys; see image), which they compared with Mus skin. Acomys skin is much more fragile, with significantly larger hair follicles and a proportionally lower amount of connective tissue. Wounds in Acomys skin healed much more quickly, closing 64% of the area within 24 hours. Collagen type III was the predominant collagen in these wounds, as opposed to collagen I in Mus. When …

Reviewing Author

Kenneth Y. Tsai, MD, PhD

Disclosures

Grant / Research support American Association for Cancer Research – Landon Foundation; National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute; Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas

Editorial BoardsJournal of the American Academy of Dermatology

Kenneth Y. Tsai, MD, PhD

Disclosures

Grant / Research support American Association for Cancer Research – Landon Foundation; National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute; Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas

Editorial BoardsJournal of the American Academy of Dermatology