18892 Biomimetic scaffold for efficient in vitro skin engineering

Abstract

The importance of 3D models of the skin for in vitro studies is increasing, but it can be challenging to create functional and reproducible models. Here we introduce a synthetic biomimetic scaffold that can efficiently and readily creates a 3D environment that mimics the skin. This scaffold is a reversible thermal gel (RTG) that replicates the sheet morphology and is shown to have a similar in structure to collagen. Its structural similarities make it ideal for 3D culturing various skin cell types such as fibroblasts and keratinocytes. The thermosensitive property allows cells to be encapsulated with needed factors, which may improve cell survival and proliferation. Thus, this polymer is ideal for cellular culture in comparison to traditional monophasic scaffolds, which can have nutrient and growth factor challenges. The backbone is modified with RGD, which is an integrin/cell-binding motif found commonly in the extracellular matrix of the skin. To test the polymers ability to be an in vitro model of skin both dermal keratinocytes and fibroblasts were grown within the polymer scaffold. Once encapsulated, the cells were stained via immunohistochemistry with the appropriate cell markers and 3D imaged using confocal microscopy. This study showed dermal fibroblasts and keratinocytes had significant growth and infiltration throughout the 3D polymer scaffold. With this temperature dependent scaffold, 3D culturing can be simplified and has many applications for in vitro drug testing and pathogenesis research.