Viscoelastic properties of plasma-agarose hydrogels dictate favorable fibroblast responses for skin tissue engineering applications.

Dermal wound healing relies on the properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Thus, hydrogels that replicate skin ECM have reached clinical application. After a dermal injury, a transient, biodegradable fibrin clot is instrumental in wound healing.

Silica/Protein and Silica/Polysaccharide Interactions and Their Contributions to the Functional Properties of Derived Hybrid Wound Dressing Hydrogels.

Multifunctional and biocompatible hydrogels are on the focus of wound healing treatments. Protein and polysaccharides silica hybrids are interesting wound dressing alternatives. The objective of this review is to answer questions such as why silica for wound dressings reinforcement? What are the roles and contributions of silane precursors and silica on the functional properties of hydrogel wound dressings? The effects of tailoring the porous, morphological, and chemical characteristics of synthetic silicas on the bioactivity of hybrid wound dressings hydrogels are explored in the first part of the review.

Improving Fibrin Hydrogels' Mechanical Properties, through Addition of Silica or Chitosan-Silica Materials, for Potential Application as Wound Dressings.

Fibrin is a protein-based hydrogel formed during blood coagulation. It can also be produced from human blood plasma, and it is capable of resisting high deformations. However, after each deformation process, it loses high amounts of water, which subsequently makes it mechanically unstable and, finally, difficult to manipulate.

Nonviral Expression of LL-37 in a Human Skin Equivalent to Prevent Infection in Skin Wounds.

Inefficient autologous tissue recovery in skin wounds increases the susceptibility of patients to infections caused by multidrug resistant microorganisms, resulting in a high mortality rate. Genetic modification of skin cells has become an important field of study because it could lead to the construction of more functional skin grafts, through the overexpression of antimicrobial peptides that would prevent early contamination and infection with bacteria. In this study, we produce and evaluate human skin equivalents (HSEs) containing transfected human primary fibroblasts and keratinocytes by polyplexes to express the antimicrobial peptide LL-37.

Thermosensitive behavior in cell culture media and cytocompatibility of a novel copolymer: poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-butylacrylate).

Cell sheet technology is a promising step forward in tissue engineering. Cell sheets are usually generated using Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) hydrogels due to their swelling change around the lower critical solution temperature (LCST). Nevertheless, LCST can be affected by cell culture medium components and therefore it is necessary to ensure that the polymer preserves its thermosensitivity under these conditions.