Reduced wound healing and angiogenesis in aged zebrafish and turquoise killifish

Abstract Impaired wound healing is associated with aging and has significant effects on human health on an individual level, but also the whole health care sector. Deficient angiogenesis appears to be involved in the process, but the underlying biology is still poorly understood. This is at least partially being explained by complexity and costs in using mammalian aging models. To understand aging-related vascular biology of impaired wound healing, we have utilized zebrafish and turquoise killifish fin regeneration models. The regeneration of caudal fin after resection was significantly reduced in old individuals in both species. Age-related changes in angiogenesis, vascular density and expression levels of angiogenesis biomarker VEGF-A were observed. Furthermore, anti-angiogenic drug, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor blocking inhibitor SU5416 reduced regeneration indicating a key role for angiogenesis in the regeneration of aging caudal fin despite aging-related changes in vasculature. Taken together, our data indicates that these fish models are suitable for studying aging-related decline in wound healing and associated alterations in aging vasculature.