Figure 2.

Conditional deletion of Rac1 in fibroblasts results in impaired cutaneous wound healing: histological analysis. Mice were wounded and quality of wound closure was measured as described in the Materials and Methods. Mice 7 days post-wounding were measured as described in the Materials and Methods using van Gieson’s stain, and hydroxyproline levels were measured to detect collagen, proliferating cell nuclear antigen to detect proliferation, and α-SMA antibody to detect myofibroblasts. For all assays, six mice per group were analyzed. Maturity of collagen fibers was ascertained as described in Materials and Methods. (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, Student’s t-test).