The H&E-stained slides were also used for the measurement of RE. The wound edge and RE tip judgment were conducted in images at x400 magnification, which were captured using a digital camera (Nikon DS-L2). The lengths of the curved lines from both wound edges to the RE tips and the wound gap between the RE tips were also measured. The %RE of the wound was calculated using the following equation: %RE=distance covered by epithelium/distance between wound edges) x100 (5 (link),16 (link)).