models

Experimental hind limb injury is widely used to study the effect of transgenes, stem cells, or pharmaceuticals on e.g. new vessel formation (1,2,3,4). The degree of the injury depends on the number and the location of the vessels ligated, therefore having an impact on the recovery process and the monitoring of the transgene response. Even though terminally differentiated myofibers are not able to proliferate the skeletal muscle has a remarkable regenerative potential, which is thought to be due to the satellite cell differentiation as response to injury (5,6). Selection of the species between mouse, rat, and rabbit depends on the purpose of the study and has an impact on the method of vessel ligation. In the current review we focus on to describe the hind limb injury execution in a rat model.