Development and characterization of a nano fiber based skin equivalent model.

Abstract

Over the past three decades, significant progress has been made in the area of skin tissue engineering using different types of scaffolds such as non-cell based grafts and cell based grafts. The skin consists of the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis, the dermis is the thickest layer and so far challenges in skin tissue engineering has been difficulty to restore the dermis. Fibro blasts secrete collagen and elastin which gives mechanical strength and elasticity to the skin which is the main function of the dermis. The aim of this study is to develop a skin graft model that can mimic the structure and function of the dermis by using Electrospun Nano fiber coating to design polyethylene Glycol Diacrylate(PEGDA) poly e-caprolactone (PCL) scaffolds, these 3 different scaffolds namely (PEGDA) poly e-caprolactone (PCL), Sodium Alginate PCL and Collagen PCL were cultured using fibro blast cells. Analysis of the development and characterization of these fiber based skin grafts was done by checking the architectural integrity by degradation analysis, cell viability through proliferation of cells, cell differentiation, and cell addition. Furthermore, scanning electron microscopy SEM (histology section) of PEGDA PCL, sodium alginate PCL and collagen PCL without cells was used to see the adhesiveness of PCL fibers with the different scaffold. Also, this study involved morphometric analysis through Wettability of PEGDA PCL, Sodium Alginate PCL, and Collagen PCL to see its ability to absorb water. Cytotoxicity of cells showed that cells sticks to the bottom of samples. During this study, it was seen that Collagen PCL and Sodium Alginate PCL showed better characteristics regarding being compatible with the normal skin if used as a skin graft.