Achievements of 3D bio-printing of skin grafts

Bioengineering does not stand still and is developing around the world. Two and a half years ago, a group of Spanish researchers from the University of Carlos III, Madrid (UC3M), the Center for Research in Energy, Environment and Technology (CIEMAT), as well as the University of Madrid University Gregorio Maranona reported that they learned how to create an analogue of the skin a person using the 3D bioprinting method, where solutions containing collagen and skin cells grown from cell samples of a specific person were used as the ink of a 3D printer.





This 3D bio-printer uses injectors with biological components of human and bio-ink, patented by CIEMAT and licensed by the BioDan Group. The latter also plans to bring this technology to the market. Human skin is printed in layers, and the entire process is controlled by a computer.



Scientists have developed special bio-inks containing plasma, primary fibroblasts and human keratinocytes (epithelial tissue cells) obtained by biopsy.



The skin printed on a bioprinter repeats the structure of its natural analogue 100%: it has an external protective layer of the epidermis and inner layers of the dermis, consisting of fibroblasts - cells of the connective tissue that produce collagen, which gives the human skin elasticity. Since living cells are used for printing, the printed skin is biologically active and begins to produce collagen itself.



However, the skin thus obtained did not have blood vessels, and therefore could only be used as a means to heal burn wounds (a week or two after transplantation onto the patient’s burned area of ​​the patient’s skin, the patches of such skin simply fell away, fulfilling their function of protecting tissues from the external environment) as well as a consumable for medical and cosmetic tests.



An indisputable plus of Biodan’s 3D bioprinting technology is the speed of production of such skin (1-2 days instead of 2 weeks before with traditional skin cultivation).



2.5 years have passed and a group of researchers from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the United States said that they were able to print fragments of the skin of mice with a built-in circulatory system.





After the grafts of such skin were transplanted into mice, their “full integration” was observed - the graft vessels connected to the vascular system of the skin of experimental mice and took root, not falling off over time.



In the near future, researchers plan to begin experiments on humans after they receive appropriate permission from the authorities. Maybe in the near future, skin grafts will become commonplace.