Effects of VPA on levels of β-catenin, wound healing, proliferation, and apoptosis markers in small wounds.

<p>The wounded skin of 8-week-old male C3H mice was treated daily with 500 mM VPA for 7 days. A portion of the wounded tissues was excised and frozen in liquid nitrogen for Western blot analysis, and the remaining tissue was fixed in paraformaldehyde. (A) Immunohistochemical analysis of β-catenin, filaggrin, loricrin, or keratin 14 in the neo-epidermis of control and VPA-treated wounds (original magnification ×635). (B) Western blot analysis of β-catenin, filaggrin, loricrin, keratin 14, α-tubulin, α-SMA, collagen I, collagen III, caspase 8, Mcl-1, or PCNA in the control and VPA-treated wounds. (C) Immunohistochemical analysis of α-SMA collagen I, or collagen III in the control and VPA-treated wounds (original magnification ×635). (D) The control and VPA-treated wounds were stained for Ki67 and evaluated using the TUNEL assay. The nuclei were stained with DAPI (original magnification ×635).