A Modeling Conundrum: Murine Models for Cutaneous Wound Healing

The complexity of the cutaneous wound healing process and its impairment in disease states, combined with the urgent clinical need for new therapies demand well-defined preclinical models that facilitate translation of research findings to clinical use. Many murine wound models are well suited for studying mechanisms of various aspects of wound healing, but they have shown limited utility for translating research findings to human conditions, thereby impeding therapeutic developments. Ansell et al. underscore the need for standardization of preclinical murine models by showing the impact of duration of diabetes, animal sex, and assessment methods on healing outcomes in the streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus rat model. Recognizing and understanding the limitations and advantages of preclinical murine wound models will facilitate more effective translation of experimental results to improved treatment of human chronic wounds.