Testing wound-healing activity in T15 fibroblast cultures: A morphometric analysis

Abstract

The purpose was to evaluate the use of mouse T15 fibroblast cell cultures for the investigation of wound-healing activity. In order to investigate their mechanisms of action, the effects of drugs with wound-healing activities were compared by using morphometric analyses by microscopy after cell staining. A number of parameters were used to evaluate the effects of titrated extracts from Centella asiatica and dexpanthenol (drugs that have been used in medical practice for their wound-healing activities) on cultured mouse T15 fibroblasts. These parameters were: the total number of cells; the number of T15 cells in mitosis; the percentages of fusiform, polygonal, round and vacuole-containing cells; and the number of intracellular collagen granules. The results indicate that these two drugs exhibit wound-healing activities by activating fibroblast cells, and have cytoprotective effects, although their mechanisms of action on mouse T15 fibroblasts were different. On the basis of our findings, mouse T15 fibroblast cell cultures seem to be useful for the pharmacological screening of compounds with wound-healing activity.