Skin Transplantation in Mice
IACUC Standard Procedure
Effective Date: November 2025
Description of Procedure
Donor Tissue: Describe disposition of donor in IACUC protocol. Prepare donor tissue as appropriate.
Grafting Procedure: Recipient mice are anesthetized following the UCSF Anesthesia Guidelines. Analgesics are administered in accordance with the protocol. The surgical site is shaved or clipped and appropriately disinfected. Using sterile curved scissors, an area of skin slightly larger than the skin graft is carefully snipped away, being careful not to cut the panniculus. The donor skin graft is placed onto the prepared graft bed and secured with a piece of non-adhering gauze (e.g., Adaptec) pad. Sutures can be used at the four corners of the graft to secure and immobilize it. The non-adhering gauze is secured with an adhesive strip, and the mouse is allowed to recover. Between day 5 and 7, engraftment of the donor skin should be verified using visual examination under anesthesia. Transplanted mice must be monitored for graft rejection (necrosis, infection).
The protocol must identify:
- The size of the skin graft
- Analgesic type, route of administration, and frequency
- Antibiotic type route, and frequency if necessary
- Experimental endpoint
Agents
This procedure requires anesthesia, systemic analgesics, and antibiotics (as needed). All agents administered to animals should be listed in the "Agents" section of the RIO IACUC protocol.
Adverse Effects
Adverse effects should be listed in the “Adverse Effects” section of the RIO IACUC protocol.
Examples include: skin graft rejection (necrosis) or infection
References
http://www.jove.com/video/634/murine-skin-transplantation
Garrod, K. R., D. Cahalan, M. Murine Skin Transplantation. J. Vis. Exp. (11), e634, doi:10.3791/634 (2008).