Fig. 1.

Cutaneous wound healing in adult mouse. a Schematic showing method of inducing several (usually 2–4) punch biopsy full-thickness skin wounds to the back skin of a mouse. b–e Schematics describing the four main stages of cutaneous healing in adult mouse generally defined as: immediate responses including blood clot formation and neutrophil recruitment (0–2 h; b); inflammation involving neutrophil and monocyte recruitment from the peripheral circulation and activation of tissue-resident cells (1–72 h; c); re-epithelialization where keratinocytes proliferate and migrate to re-cover the wound, also coinciding with fibrotic granulation tissue formation, collagen deposition and angiogenic sprouting (3–10 days; d); and finally, the contraction of the wound by myofibroblasts, wound closure, resolution of inflammation and scar remodelling (14 days–months; e)