Differential protein profile in the ear-punched tissue of regeneration and non-regeneration strains of mice: a novel approach to explore the candidate genes for soft-tissue regeneration.

Wound repair/regeneration is a genetically controlled, complex process. In order to identify candidate genes regulating fast wound repair/regeneration in soft-tissue, the temporal protein profile of the soft-tissue healing process was analyzed in the ear-punched tissue of regeneration strain MRL/MpJ-Fas(lpr) (MRL) mice and non-regeneration strain C57BL/6J(B6) mice using surface-enhanced laser desorption and ionization (SELDI) ProteinChip technology. Five candidate proteins were identified in which responses of MRL to the ear punch were 2-4-fold different compared to that of B6. Their corresponding genes were predicted using an antigen-antibody assay validated mass-based approach. Most of the predicted genes are known to play a role or are likely to play a role in the wound repair/regeneration. Of the five candidate proteins, the amount of the 23560 Da protein in the ear-punched tissue was significantly correlated with the rate of ear healing in six representative strains of mice, making it a good candidate for fast wound repair/regeneration. We speculate that the increased concentration of the 23560 Da protein in the wound tissue could stimulate the expression of various growth-promoting proteins and consequently speed up the wound repair/regeneration processes. Here, we have shown that examination of protein expression profile using SELDI technology, coupled with database search, is an alternative approach to search for candidate genes for wound repair/regeneration. This novel approach can be implemented in a variety of biological applications.