ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Giornale Italiano di Dermatologia e Venereologia 2018 October;153(5):636-43

DOI: 10.23736/S0392-0488.17.05472-4

Copyright © 2017 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Construction of a three-dimensional in-vitro skin model on polycaprolactone fibers

Qi LIU, Ru-Zhi ZHANG ✉, Bin XU

Department of Dermatology, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Suzhou University, Changzhou, China

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to observe the morphological characteristics and the biological properties of human epidermal cells when cultured at an air-liquid interface in polycaprolactone (PCL) fibers as a three-dimensional scaffold for tissue engineering.
METHODS: In this study, the melanocytes and keratinocytes were obtained from human scalp skin, seeded onto a PCL film, and cocultured for 2 weeks to construct a three-dimensional (3D) skin model. The cells were then characterized by hematoxylin and eosin staining, by immunohistochemical staining with antibodies to cytokeratin 15 (CK15), Ki-67, CD34, CD200 and HMB45 and by transmission electron microscopy.
RESULTS: Keratinocytes and melanocytes grew well in the co-culture system. Hematoxylin and eosin staining revealed that the cells adhered to the PCL fiber scaffold well, the keratinocyte layer became a multilayered concentric structure and the surface became distinctly keratinized at the air-liquid interface. Immunohistochemical analyses exhibited a scattered distribution of cells expressing CK15, CD34, CD200, Ki-67 and/or HMB45. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the keratinocytes contained a number of keratin fibrils and membrane-coated granules.
CONCLUSIONS: The PCL scaffold has excellent adhesiveness and biocompatibility with human epidermal cells, and is suitable for constructing 3D skin models for tissue engineering in the future.

KEY WORDS: Polycaprolactone - Biological models - Keratinocytes