Xeno‐free self‐assembling peptide scaffolds for building 3D organotypic skin cultures

• Published in: FASEB bioAdvances Vol. 4; no. 10; pp. 631 - 637
• Main Authors: Loo, Yihua, Wan, Andrew C. A., Hauser, Charlotte A. E., Lane, E. Birgitte, Benny, Paula
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.10.2022; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Amino acids; bioprinting; Cell culture; Collagen; Construction; Consumer goods; Customization; Electrical resistivity; Epidermis; Extracellular matrix; Fibroblasts; Gene expression; Hydrogels; in vitro skin models; Keratin; Metabolism; organotypic cultures; Peptides; Physiology; self‐assembling peptides; Skin; Tissue engineering; Variance analysis; xeno‐free synthetic bioinks; self‐assembling peptides; organotypic cultures; in vitro skin models; xeno‐free synthetic bioinks; bioprinting
• ISSN: 2573-9832; 2573-9832
• DOI: 10.1096/fba.2022-00026

Organotypic skin cultures represent in vitro models of skin which can be used for disease modeling, tissue engineering, and screening applications. Non‐human collagen is currently the gold standard material used for the construction of the supporting matrix, however, its clinical applications are limited due to its xenogeneic origin. We have developed a novel peptide hydrogel‐based skin construct that shows a pluristratified epidermis, basement membrane, and dermal compartment after 3 weeks of in vitro culture. Peptide‐based constructs were compared to collagen‐based constructs and stratification marker expression was histologically higher in peptide constructs than in collagen constructs. Transepithelial electrical resistance also showed mature barrier function in peptide constructs. This study presents a novel application of the self‐assembling peptide hydrogel in a defined xeno‐free in vitro system.