Fig. 2

Wound healing was hampered in MXRA7^−/− mice. a Comparison of wound healing in WT and MXRA7^−/− mice as indicated by residual punch sizes. Shown were representative images of ears and sizes of punch holes calculated with the Image-Pro Plus 6.0 (average with a standard deviation of seven samples from seven mice in each group). b Representative histological images of healing ear tissues. (III, IV) At day 7 after injury, the newly regenerating tissue contained more infiltrating cells (red arrow heads) and new blood vessels (black arrow heads) in WT mice than in MXRA7^−/− mice. (I, II) Double-headed arrows measured the length of regenerated tissues by day 28. Original magnifications: I, II, 100×; I II, IV, i, ii, 200×; iii, iv, 400×. *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001. c Direct immunofluorescence staining of CD11b showed that inflammatory cells of WT were significantly more than those of MXRA7^−/− mice on day 7 after injury. d Masson staining showed there was less collagen deposition in the regenerated tissues of MXRA7^−/− mice compared to WT mice on day 19 after injury. e RT-qPCR detected the expression of genes coding for collagens, MMPs, and myofibroblast differentiation modulators