Abstract
A variety of skin substitutes are used in the treatment of full-thickness burns. Substitutes made from skin can harbor latent viruses, and artificial skin grafts can heal with extensive scarring, failing to regenerate structures such as glands, nerves, and hair follicles. Biodegradable and biocompatible hydrogels, however, rarely mimic the strength of the epidermis. Therefore, novel and practical skin scaffold materials remain to be developed. Polysaccharides form hydrogels with predicted inherent biocompatibility. This paper describes the preparation and biocompatibility of unique hydrogel skin scaffolds from plant-extracted polysaccharide mixtures of specific sources, types, and molecular weight fractions. These hydrogels have a range of mechanical and degradation properties with the potential to fulfill the multiple, diverse functions of artificial skin, including protection, compatibility with different cell types, biodegradation, and release of needed signals for cell growth and wound healing.
Highlights
The skin is the largest organ in the body and serves many important functions, such as protection against infection, immune surveillance, perception of touch, and temperature regulation [1,2]
Hydrogels have been used as an alternate artificial skin, because good hydration is the most important external factor responsible for optimal wound healing [1114], as water is necessary for transport of nutrients to the growing cells
This paper reports the testing of biocompatibility and strength of polysaccharides and polysaccharide hydrogels synthesized from plant extracts, as well as their method of preparation
Summary
The skin is the largest organ in the body and serves many important functions, such as protection against infection, immune surveillance, perception of touch, and temperature regulation [1,2]. Skin contains two layers: the strong epidermis, which is composed mainly of keratinocytes that form the thick protective layer with hair follicles and glands, and the dermis, which contains many different cell types, including collagen-producing fibroblasts, blood vessel-forming endothelial cells, motor and sensory neurons, and immunoregulatory cells. If patients survive with the help of skin grafts, skin often heals with the formation of scar tissue without the regeneration of some cell types [4,5,6,7], including hair follicles and sebaceous glands [8]. Hydrogels have been used as an alternate artificial skin, because good hydration is the most important external factor responsible for optimal wound healing [1114], as water is necessary for transport of nutrients to the growing cells. Hydrogels are commonly not physically strong enough to mimic the tough, thin dermis [9]
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