Laser doppler imager

Wild type C57BL/6 mice were purchased from Jackson Labs. IL-19 knockout mice were generated using the VelociGene method and IL-19^−/− mice identified by genotyping of tail DNA by PCR using specific primers as we described^{27 (link)}. Age and sex-matched male and female littermates were used for these studies. The hind limb ischemia model was performed as described^{28 (link)}. Briefly, mice were anesthetized by injection of ketamine and xylazine, the femoral artery is dissected from the femoral vein, the artery occluded at two points using double knots, and the femoral artery between these knots excised. Ten ng/g/day recombinant murine IL-19 was administered i.p. 24 hours post-surgery. Laser Doppler scanning was performed by an operator blinded to the identity of each mouse, immediately following surgery, and at days 3, 7, 10, and 15 days post-surgery using a Laser Doppler Imager (Moor Instruments, Cambridge, UK). After 15 days, mice were euthanized and gastrocnemius muscle prepared for immunohistochemistry. Some mice were injected i.p. with 10ng/g/day murine rIL-19 (eBioscience) or an equivalent volume of PBS five days per week for the duration of the study. All animal procedures followed Temple University-IACUC approved protocols.