Wound healing in fetal limb organ culture.

The in vitro wound healing responses in whole-limb organ culture of fetal rats at day 19 of gestation were compared with the intrauterine wound repair. In vitro, after a skin incision was made in the lower forelimb, the subcutaneous tissue and the dermis regenerated. Reepithelialization appeared within two to five days. Thus, the wound healing was comparable to the intrauterine fetal wound repair. The whole limb organ culture may be a useful and suitable in vitro test system to study the mechanisms involved in fetal wound healing to search for compounds required in fetal skin regeneration and to test factors tht might influence it.