OBJECTIVE: To review the recent progresses on tissue engineering of skin. METHODS: Recent original articles about tissue engineering of skin were extensively reviewed, which focused on the progresses and major problems concerning the epidermal substitutes, dermal substitutes, cultured-epidermal composite skin graft. RESULTS: Most investigators had come to conclusion that the optimal skin substitute should provide for immediate reconstruction of both the lost epidermis and dermis. The research was mainly focused on how to transplant epidermal cells immediately, preserve their activity and function, and develop the extracellular matrix which could effectively accelerate the function of transplanted cells, induce vascular growth from the wound bed, could be biodegradable, no toxicity and no danger of carrying pathogen. CONCLUSION: The major research trends of tissue engineering of skin should be focused on the study of immediate transplantation of epidermal cells, accelerate wound healing and developing extracellular matrix of dermis.
OBJECTIVE The human epidermal cells were bred on a kind of bio-membrane, the bio-brane, in engineering a kind of new epidermal substitute, the bio-membrane bred cell graft. METHODS Fresh and frozen grafts of biomembrane bred epidermal cells were transplanted into the full-thickness wounds of nude mice and those received simple Bio-brane were served as control. The wounds of the two groups were observed daily and biopsy was taken on the 3, 5, 7, 10, 21 and 35 days respectively. RESULTS Epidermal cells could be cultured in vitro on the bio-membrane reaching the sub-saturated state of 60 to 70 percents. The bio-membrane after being grafted the epidermal cells continued to proliferate and differentiate to form a layer of new epidermis. There was no difference between the fresh and the frozen bio-membranes. CONCLUSION Bio-membrane bred with epidermal cells could be a kind of ideal epidermal substitute.