Project description:In order to identify tissue specific differences in epithelial behavior following injury, we developed a novel animal model of epithelial-restricted injury in the New Zealand White rabbit. A grid of shallow incisional wounds, which extended through the entire epithelium but did not significantly damage the underlying connective tissue, were created on the skin and vaginal mucosa, and samples were taken at various times post-surgery for histology and molecular analysis. All wounds were completely re-epithelialized between 1 and 2 days post-surgery.
Project description:To evaluate decellularized skeletal muscle extracellular matrix hydrogel effectiveness in treating shoulder cuff tears using a rabbit (RI) model. Male New Zealand white rabbits had supraspinatus tendon severed and were housed for 12 weeks, after which they had tendon reattached and half of rabbits also received an extracellular matrix gel injection. We then performed gene expression profiling analysis using data obtained from RNA-seq from rabbit supraspinatus muscles (n=5 for repair+gel treatment, n=5 for repair only treatment , n=4 for injured control) at 2 weeks post and (n=5 for repair+gel treatment, n=5 for repair only treatment , n=5 for uninjured control) at 12 weeks post treatment
Project description:In order to identify tissue specific differences in epithelial behavior following injury, we developed a novel animal model of epithelial-restricted injury in the New Zealand White rabbit. A grid of shallow incisional wounds, which extended through the entire epithelium but did not significantly damage the underlying connective tissue, were created on the skin and vaginal mucosa, and samples were taken at various times post-surgery for histology and molecular analysis. All wounds were completely re-epithelialized between 1 and 2 days post-surgery. A microarray analysis was performed on RNA extracted from the cutaneous and mucosal epithelium at 0 hour, 12 hours, 1 day, 3 days, and 5 days following injury, as well as unwounded control tissue. Multiple biological replicates (4 to 6 biological replicates) were measured at each condition. A custom Agilent 4x44K rabbit microarray was utilized.
Project description:In our rabbit model of pulmonary tuberculosis, infection with Mtb HN878, a hyper-virulent W-Beijing strain, results in progressive cavitary disease. However, infection of rabbit lungs with Mtb CDC1551, a hyper-immunogenic strain is effectively controlled overtime, establishing latent Mtb infection. Using these two Mtb strains, we tested the hypothesis that the initial host response in the lungs within hours of infection determines later outcome. The microarray experiments was performed to identify gene expression changes in the Mtb-HN878 or CDC1551- infected rabbit lungs at 3 hours post infection, compared to uninfected naïve rabbit lungs. New Zealand White rabbits were infected with Mtb HN878 or CDC1551 at ~3.5log10. At 3 hours post infection, lung tissue from Mtb-infected and uninfected rabbits were isolated and used for total RNA extraction. Total rabbit lung RNA was used for microarray analysis to determine infection induced changes in host gene expression.
