Abstract
The skin protects the body from external barriers. Certain limitations exist in the development of technologies to rapidly prepare skin substitutes that are therapeutically effective in surgeries involving extensive burns and skin transplantation. Herein, we fabricated a structure similar to the skin layer by using skin-derived decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) with bioink, keratinocytes, and fibroblasts using 3D-printing technology. The therapeutic effects of the produced skin were analyzed using a chimney model that mimicked the human wound-healing process. The 3D-printed skin substitutes exhibited rapid re-epithelialization and superior tissue regeneration effects compared to the control group. These results are expected to aid the development of technologies that can provide customized skin-replacement tissues produced easily and quickly via 3D-printing technology to patients.
Highlights
The skin is a complex organ that provides protection, exhibits regulatory functions, and is responsible for communication between the external environment and internal organisms [1]
Skin substitutes that replace the entire function of the skin and represent a more complex system that integrates the structure of the skin with multiple cellular phenotypes are urgently required
We previously developed a technology for producing decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM)-based bioinks that retained collagen, glycosaminoglycan (GAG), and elastin components using porcine skin extracellular matrix, and further devised a technology to produce skin substitutes using 3D-printing technology [11,14]
Summary
The skin is a complex organ that provides protection, exhibits regulatory functions, and is responsible for communication between the external environment and internal organisms [1]. Skin substitutes that replace the entire function of the skin and represent a more complex system that integrates the structure of the skin with multiple cellular phenotypes are urgently required. From this perspective, 3D-printing technology, bioink, and artificial skin bioprinting technology that imitates the external skin structure and microenvironment have gained immense attention. A newly proposed mouse chimney wound model could be a suitable animal experimental model for examining the recovery of skin wounds in that it is similar to that of a human, so in this study, we assessed the therapeutic effects of 3D-printed skin substitutes in an environment mimicking the human wound-healing process [18]
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