Biomimetic skin substitutes created from tropoelastin help to promote wound healing

Field: Medicine (Health Sciences)

Event Abstract Back to Event Biomimetic skin substitutes created from tropoelastin help to promote wound healing Robert Kellar1, 2, 3, 4, Robert B. Diller2, Hans Machula2, Jordan Muller2 and Burt Ensley4 1 Northern Arizona University, Center for Bioengineering Innovation, United States 2 Northern Arizona University, Biological Sciences, United States 3 Northern Arizona University, Mechanical Engineering, United States 4 Protein Genomics, Research & Development, United States Introduction: Tropoelastin, the precursor protein to elastin, is an important extracellular matrix protein found in many organs, including skin. Elastin is expressed in various tissues that require compliant mechanics to facilitate their funciton (e.g. skin, arteries, heart, bladder). However, the expression of this protein does not last a lifetime. Loss of elastin over time is associated with numerous disease states including aging of the organ or tissue. When skin becomes wounded in an adult, the repair mechanism no longer includes the production of tropoelastin as the gene is silent post-adolecence. By reverse-engineering native skin, an architectural template can be created to serve as a model for the development of biomimetic skin substitutes. The hypothesis in the current study was that a tropoelastin biomaterial impregnated with adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) would promote wound healing in full-thickness dermal wounds compared to control therapy. Materials and Methods: A human skin isoform of tropoelastin has been sequenced and expressed in E. coli to produce gram quantities of this protein for biomaterial fabrication using electrospinning procedures. Electrospinning methods were used to create a tropoelastin biomaterial to serve as a biomimetic skin substitute for the delivery of ADSCs to a full thickness wounds. Human ADSCs found in the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) were isolated from liposuction fat provided by consenting patients. A severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) murine model was used for the creation of full thickness dermal wounds. SEM was performed on the biomimetic skin subsitutes with ADSCs for the assessment of ADSCs attachment, morphology and new extracellular matrix deposition. On postoperative day 6, animals were sacrificed, wounds photographed and wound tissue along with the wound margin collected and processed for histology and immunohistochemistry. Average percent wound closure and epithelial thickness of the newly formed tissue were quantified. Results and Discussion: In vitro studies demonstrated that the biomimetic skin substitutes facilitated ADSCs attachment and extracellular matrix deposition. This supports the concept that these biomimetic skin substitutes are biocompatible and will appropriately serve as a delivery vehicle for ADSCs. In the wound-healing study, ADSCs cultured onto the biomimetic skin substitutes demonstrated significantly enhanced wound closure and epithelial thickness compared to controls. In these studies, tropoelastin as a biomaterial offers unique material properties and characteristics that support its use in many tissues where elastin is found as a structural component. Conclusion: In the current study, recombinantly-derived human tropoelastin was used to create a novel biomaterial to serve as a biomimetic skin substitute and a delivery vehicle for ADSCs to a full thickness wound. Pre-clinical results in the current study demonstrate this combination therapy to be superior to control therapy for the closure of full thickness dermal wounds. Keywords: stem cell, Biomimetic, biomaterial, Biocompatibility Conference: 10th World Biomaterials Congress, Montréal, Canada, 17 May - 22 May, 2016. Presentation Type: New Frontier Oral Topic: Biomaterials in wound healing Citation: Kellar R, Diller RB, Machula H, Muller J and Ensley B (2016). Biomimetic skin substitutes created from tropoelastin help to promote wound healing. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. Conference Abstract: 10th World Biomaterials Congress. doi: 10.3389/conf.FBIOE.2016.01.00174 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 27 Mar 2016; Published Online: 30 Mar 2016. Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Robert Kellar Robert B Diller Hans Machula Jordan Muller Burt Ensley Google Robert Kellar Robert B Diller Hans Machula Jordan Muller Burt Ensley Google Scholar Robert Kellar Robert B Diller Hans Machula Jordan Muller Burt Ensley PubMed Robert Kellar Robert B Diller Hans Machula Jordan Muller Burt Ensley Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.