Frostbite Protection in Mice Expressing an Antifreeze Glycoprotein
Fig 1
Skin fibroblasts expressing iafgp demonstrate increased cold resistance.
Full-thickness skin punches of iafgp-transgenic mice and wildtype controls (C57Bl/6) were cut into small pieces and stored at 4°C for up to 4 days before shifting them to 37°C to determine fibroblast survival inside the samples. Fibroblast migration and replication was monitored microscopically and 7 days (48h cold storage) or 14 days (72h and 96 h cold storage) later the number of attached cells in each sample was quantified after extensive washing using the Guava ViaCount. A: Absolute number of recovered cells was pooled from 3–4 independent experiments with 1–2 mice per group and timepoint (*: p<0.05, Student's T-Test). The detected cell quantity comprises fibroblasts that migrated from the skin punch and cells replicating after attachment. B: The ratio of iafgp-transgenic cells to controls was calculated for each independent fibroblast migration experiment and pooled per timepoint (*: p<0.05, Student's T-Test).