Multifactorial Effects of Gelling Conditions on Mechanical Properties of Skin-Like Gelatin Membranes Intended for In Vitro Experimentation and Artificial Skin Models.

Lilian C Alarcón-Segovia,Ignacio Rintoul,Jorge I Daza-Agudelo

doi:10.3390/polym13121991

Abstract

The development of new cosmetic products, skin contact medical devices, skin medicaments, wound care devices, tattooing and piercing has experienced an impressive growth in recent years. In parallel, new restrictions to in vivo experimentation in animals and humans have been widely implemented by regulatory authorities. New knowledge about alternative materials for in vitro skin-related experimentation is required to overcome these severe limitations. This paper presents a set of three 4-D surface response equations describing the mechanical properties of skin-like gelatin membranes intended for use as an alternative biomaterial for in vitro skin-related experimentation. The membranes were obtained by a sol-gel method. The novelty of this contribution is the establishment of the cross-dependency effects of key synthesis conditions on the final mechanical properties of gelatin membranes. The results of this work are useful to produce gelatin membranes with tailored mechanical properties mimicking different types of human skins. In particular, membranes with Young’s modulus of 1 MPa and maximum tensile strength of 0.85 MPa were obtained.

Highlights

Materials obtained with the formulas S6, S8 and S9 can be used as mechanical models for skin studies; materials obtained with the formulas S1, S4, S5 and S7 can be used as mechanical models for muscles and the materials obtained with the formulas S2 and S3 can be used as mechanical
The modified sol‐gel method presented in this contribution is useful to obtain SLGMs with mechanical properties according to those required for in vitro studies and applica‐
The surface equations relate the gelatin, water and glycerol contents and the maturation time set during the preparation of the SLGMs to their resulting Young’s Modulus (YM), Maximum tensile stress (MTS)

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The skin tissue is the largest organ of the human body. It represents about 15% of the body weight of an adult person. Skin is a membrane gland and performs absorption, secretion, respiration, temperature regulation, general and special sensitivity and synthesis of vitamin D, among many other functions [1,2,3]

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Conclusion