Large full-thickness wounded skin regeneration using 3D-printed elastic scaffold with minimal functional unit of skin

Traditional tissue engineering skin are composed of living cells and natural or synthetic scaffold. Besize the time delay and the risk of contamination involved with cell culture, the lack of autologous cell source and the persistence of allogeneic cells in heterologous grafts have limited its application. This study shows a novel tissue engineering functional skin by carrying minimal functional unit of skin (MFUS) in 3D-printed polylactide-co-caprolactone (PLCL) scaffold and collagen gel (PLCL + Col + MFUS). MFUS is full-layer micro skin harvested from rat autologous tail skin. 3D-printed PLCL elastic scaffold has the similar mechanical properties with rat skin which provides a suitable environment for MFUS growing and enhances the skin wound healing. Four large full-thickness skin defects with 30 mm diameter of each wound are created in rat dorsal skin, and treated either with tissue engineering functional skin (PLCL + Col + MFUS), or with 3D-printed PLCL scaffold and collagen gel (PLCL + Col), or with micro skin islands only (Micro skin), or without treatment (Normal healing). The wound treated with PLCL + Col + MFUS heales much faster than the other three groups as evidenced by the fibroblasts migration from fascia to the gap between the MFUS dermis layer, and functional skin with hair follicles and sebaceous gland has been regenerated. The PLCL + Col treated wound heals faster than normal healing wound, but no skin appendages formed in PLCL + Col-treated wound. The wound treated with micro skin islands heals slower than the wounds treated either with tissue engineering skin (PLCL + Col + MFUS) or with PLCL + Col gel. Our results provide a new strategy to use autologous MFUS instead “seed cells” as the bio-resource of engineering skin for large full-thickness skin wound healing.