Artikel
Development of a photosynthetic dermal substitute
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Veröffentlicht: | 20. Mai 2011 |
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Gliederung
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Introduction: Tissue engineering opened a new therapeutic avenue that promised a revolution in regenerative medicine. However, clinical results are disappointed. The biggest problem is the lack of vascularisation of engineered tissues, which strongly limit their regenerative potential. Here we hypothesised that the combined use of scaffolds for dermal regeneration with photosynthetic cells could generate “photosynthetic dermal substitutes” which provides an alternative source of oxygen to blood vessels.
Materials and methods: Photosynthetic cells were incorporated in scaffolds containing fibroblasts. Afterwards, scaffolds were placed under hypoxic conditions and the oxygen levels, hypoxic markers and cell metabolism of the cells were measured in vitro. In vivo, scaffolds containing photosynthetic cells were used to induce dermal regeneration in a full skin defect mouse model.
Results: Results showed that unicellular algae can be co-cultured with fibroblasts in a collagen scaffold. Under low oxygen conditions, oxygen released by the algae fulfilled the metabolic requirements of fibroblasts thus avoiding hypoxia and cell death. In vivo, photosynthetic scaffolds enhanced dermal regeneration in a full skin defect model, generating chimerical tissues composed of algae and mouse cells.
Conclusion: The results obtained here are the first step to develop autotrophic tissues for human transplantation.