Figure 2.

Quantitative analysis of the skin-wound closure rate in substrates with various degrees of stiffness. Sequential images of the complete reepithelialization of skin explants were recorded for 15 h. Levels of skin recovery are shown for three degrees of substrate stiffness: five of six, two of six, and three of six skin explants in (a), (b), and (c), respectively, completely healed within 15 h. The keratinocytes migrated little during 0–2 h, and the average wound closure rate was between 0.18 and 0.4 mm²/h. The average migration rate was not significantly different between these treatments by unpaired t-test (d).