Highly Porous and Rigid, Full-thickness Human Skin Model from the Slime-webbed Fiber Scaffold

Abstract

Collagen is the most prevalent scaffold material for in vitro skin models. The major limitation of collagen scaffold is its mechanical weakness, resulting in severe contraction during differentiation. Here, we presented a slime-webbed scaffold composed of perpendicularly stacked fibers with large pores. This slime-webbed scaffold did not contract while improving molecular transport and achieving comparable cell viability. Fibroblasts were seeded into the slime-webbed scaffold to mimic the dermal layer. In the epidermal layer, which was on top of this scaffold, keratinocytes expressed the differentiation biomarkers, keratin-5 and involucrin. Our slime-webbed scaffold-based human skin models overcome the critical limitations of collagen scaffold, suggesting a promising alternative skin model for consistent testing of drugs or cosmetic products. © 2023, The Korean Society for Biotechnology and Bioengineering and Springer.