Creating a 3 dimensional skin substitute to model normal skin wound healing and scarring using PODS (TM) technology

皮肤伤口治疗是卫生保健提供的一个非常多样化的部分，包括手术和意外撕裂伤、创伤、烧伤、压疮、糖尿病和静脉溃疡。目前的皮肤替代技术在恢复其他皮肤结构方面仍然部分有效，例如真皮，这对皮肤的整体长期外观和功能至关重要。在这个项目中，将使用水凝胶工程技术结合角质形成细胞、成纤维细胞和纤维细胞，以及一种令人兴奋的新技术——多角蛋白递送系统（PODS），来创造一种皮肤替代品。利用水凝胶工程、伤口愈合和发育生物学的跨学科方法，生长因子释放pod将被用来概括天然皮肤利用的生物刺激和机制。生长因子的组合将在水凝胶部分中引入，随着各种皮肤细胞类型的引入，将用于模拟天然皮肤中存在的微环境信号，甚至可能进一步操纵以创建伤口愈合/瘢痕形成的复杂模型。特别是，人们认为纤维细胞类型可以被指示分化为微血管，其中生长因子环境将是开发可灌注的离体皮肤模型/替代品的关键。

Skin wound treatment is a very diverse part of health care provision, encompassing surgical and accidental lacerations, trauma, burns, pressure ulcers, diabetic and venous ulcers. Current technologies for skin replacement remain partially effective in their ability to restore other skin structures, for example the dermis, which is critical to the overall long-term appearance and function of the skin. In this project, a skin substitute will be created using hydrogel engineering combined with keratinocytes, fibroblasts and fibrocytes alongside an exciting new technology known as POlyhedrin Delivery System (PODS). Using the interdisciplinary approaches of hydrogel engineering, wound healing and developmental biology, growth factor releasing PODS will be used to recapitulate the biological stimuli and mechanisms utilised by native skin. Combinations of growth factors will be introduced within the hydrogel moiety and with the introduction of various skin cell types will be used to mimic microenvironmental signals present within native skin and maybe even manipulated further to create complex models of wound healing/scarring. In particular, it is believed that the fibrocyte cell type can be instructed to differentiate into microvasculature, where the growth factor milieu will be key to developing a perfusable ex vivo skin model / substitute.