Tri-layered chitosan scaffold as a potential skin substitute

Abstract

A tri-layered chitosan-based scaffold was successfully made to replicate the striation of a full-thickness skin more accurately than a single- or bi-layered scaffold, which needed weeks of co-culturing of fibroblasts and keratinocytes to achieve similar striation. Chitosan solution was freeze-dried and made into porous disks. Chitosan or chitosan-pectin in acetic acid solution was electrospun onto the chitosan disk to form a nanofibrous layer and a thin film. Examinations based on scanning electron spectroscopy showed that the scaffold was composed of a porous layer (2 mm) to simulate the dermis, a thin film (25-45 μm) to mimic the basement membrane, and a layer of nanofibers (100-200 μm) to serve as the protective epidermis. The tensile strength and modulus of the composite scaffold were significantly higher than those of the chitosan disk (p < 0.01). The composite was able to quickly absorb water and stayed intact throughout the course of the 14-day cell culture tests. The fibroblast cells seeded on both sides of the scaffolds were able to proliferate and stayed separated by the thin film.

Preparation and biocompatibility evaluation of pectin and chitosan cryogels for biomedical application

“…Chitosan/pectin laminated films had the dynamic mechanical properties similar to those for pectin films alone . The tensile strength of the tri‐layered chitosan‐pectin scaffold was significantly higher than the tensile strength of a single‐layer chitosan disk …”

“…43 The tensile strength of the tri-layered chitosan-pectin scaffold was significantly higher than the tensile strength of a single-layer chitosan disk. 44 Biomaterials with high mechanical strength are expected to be biodegradable. The necessary time of degradation of the material depends on the purpose of use.…”

Novel biomimetic fiber incorporated scaffolds for tissue engineering

“…A natural ECM is mainly made of dynamic and hierarchically organized protein fibers such as collagen and elastin, with diameters in the range of 10–100 nm (Borjigin et al, ). On the other hand, an ideal scaffold should at least have interconnected porous structure with sizes in 10 μm, to facilitate cell infiltration and diffusion of nutrients (Lin, Chen, Chang, & Huang, ). There are several common methods to fabricate scaffolds including salt leaching, freeze drying and electrospinning (Lin et al, ; Wu et al, ).…”

“…On the other hand, an ideal scaffold should at least have interconnected porous structure with sizes in 10 μm, to facilitate cell infiltration and diffusion of nutrients (Lin, Chen, Chang, & Huang, ). There are several common methods to fabricate scaffolds including salt leaching, freeze drying and electrospinning (Lin et al, ; Wu et al, ). Among them in the present work, electrospinning and freeze drying method were selected and investigated for the fabrication of fiber incorporated scaffolds.…”

“…Due to their structure based on overlapping fibers, the pore size of electrospun scaffold is reported to be in submicrometric range (Erencia et al, ; Huang et al, ), which is smaller than the average cells size (usually in the range between 5 and 20 μm). Researchers have recently developed strategies such as combination with electrospraying, co‐electrospining with a sacrificial polymer or salt leaching (Lin et al, ; Teo et al, ; Uzunalan, Ozturk, Dincer, & Tuzlakoglu, ) to enlarge the pore size of electrospun scaffold. However, some of these methods introduce additional fabrication steps which extend the fabrication time and complexity.…”