Surgical Methods for Full-Thickness Skin Grafts to Induce Alopecia Areata in C3H/HeJ Mice

Alopecia areata is a cell-mediated autoimmune disease of humans and many domestic and laboratory animal species. C3H/HeJ inbred mice spontaneously develop alopecia areata at a low frequency (approximately 20% by 12 mo of age). Transferring full-thickness skin grafts from affected, older mice to young mice of the same strain reliably reproduces alopecia areata, thus enabling investigators to study disease pathogenesis or intervention with a variety of therapeutic approaches. We here describe in detail how to perform full-thickness skin grafts and the follow-up procedures necessary to consistently generate mice with alopecia areata. These engrafted mice can be used to study the pathogenesis of cell-mediated autoimmune disease and for drug-efficacy trials. This standard protocol can be used for many other purposes when studying abnormal skin phenotypes in laboratory mice.