Differential protein profile in the ear-punched tissue of regeneration andnon-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 pr ocess 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 su rface-enhanced laser desorption and ionization (SELDI) ProteinChip technolo gy. Five candidate proteins were identified in which responses of MRL to th e ear punch were 2-4-fold different compared to that of B6. Their correspon ding genes were predicted using an antigen-antibody assay validated mass-ba sed approach. Most of the predicted genes are known to play a role or are l ikely to play a role in the wound repair/regeneration Of the five candidate proteins, the amount of the 23 560 Da protein in the ear-punched tissue wa s significantly correlated with the rate of ear healing in six representati ve strains of mice, making it a good candidate for fast wound repair/regene ration. We speculate that the increased concentration of the 23 560 Da prot ein in the wound tissue could stimulate the expression of various growth-pr omoting proteins and consequently speed up the wound repair/regeneration pr ocesses. Here, we have shown that examination of protein expression profile using SELDI technology, coupled with database search, is an alternative ap proach to search for candidate genes for wound repair/regeneration. This no vel approach can be implemented in a variety of biological applications. (C ) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.