The perforated mesentery of the rat: a novel model for the study of genuine connective tissue contraction

The Journal of Surgical Research
L Franzén

Abstract

The rat and mouse mesenteries consist of an array of thin, mesenchymally derived, connective tissue membranes. Perforations of rat membranes heal by closure within a week and the perforated rat mesentery has earlier been shown to be a very suitable model of true connective tissue repair. In the present study, the closure of perforations in the rat was studied by light and transmission electron microscopy as well as confocal microscopy after actin staining with phallacidin in order to better understand the cellular mechanisms of healing in this model. The healing of different sized mesenteric perforations was also quantitatively assessed and compared in rats and mice. Closure occurred rapidly between Days 5 and 7 in rats, the velocity of healing being dependent on the size of the wounds. During closure, fibroblasts close to the wound margin ultrastructurally showed long slender cytoplasmic processes that contained actin filaments as shown by fluorescence confocal microscopy. In mice, larger perforations of mesenteries decreased in size during the 3-week observation period, but very seldom closed completely. In conclusion, the data gathered now and earlier indicate that a contraction phenomenon is of major importance in the closu...Continue Reading

Citations

Oct 24, 1997·In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology. Animal·M R GhassemifarL E Franzen
Dec 1, 1996·Scandinavian Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Hand Surgery·L E FranzénE Tarpila

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