Skin-on-a-Chip Technology: Microengineering Physiologically Relevant In Vitro Skin Models.

The increased demand for physiologically relevant in vitro human skin models for testing pharmaceutical drugs has led to significant advancements in skin engineering. One of the most promising approaches is the use of in vitro microfluidic systems to generate advanced skin models, commonly known as skin-on-a-chip (SoC) devices. These devices allow the simulation of key mechanical, functional and structural features of the human skin, better mimicking the native microenvironment.

Reconstructed human pigmented skin/epidermis models achieve epidermal pigmentation through melanocore transfer.

The skin acts as a barrier to environmental insults and provides many vital functions. One of these is to shield DNA from harmful ultraviolet radiation, which is achieved by skin pigmentation arising as melanin is produced and dispersed within the epidermal layer. This is a crucial defence against DNA damage, photo-ageing and skin cancer.

Open-source human skin model with an in vivo-like barrier for drug testing.

There is a global trend towards the development of physiologically relevant in vitro skin models to reduce or replace animal testing in the evaluation of therapeutic drug candidates. However, only commercial reconstructed human epidermis models (RHEm) have undergone formal validation. Although these commercial models are suitable for a wide range of applications, they are costly, lack flexibility, and the protocols used to generate them are not transparent.

Barrier-on-a-Chip with a Modular Architecture and Integrated Sensors for Real-Time Measurement of Biological Barrier Function.

Biological barriers are essential for the maintenance of organ homeostasis and their dysfunction is responsible for many prevalent diseases. Advanced in vitro models of biological barriers have been developed through the combination of 3D cell culture techniques and organ-on-chip (OoC) technology. However, real-time monitoring of tissue function inside the OoC devices has been challenging, with most approaches relying on off-chip analysis and imaging techniques.

Pigmented Full-Thickness Human Skin Model Based on a Fibroblast-Derived Matrix for Long-Term Studies.

Reconstructed human skin models are a valuable tool for drug discovery, disease modeling, and basic research. In the past decades, major progress has been made in this field leading to the development of full-thickness skin models (FTSms) better representative of the native human skin by including the cellular cross talk between the dermal and epidermal layers. However, current available FTSms still present important limitations since they are only suitable for short-term studies, include nonhuman extracellular matrix (ECM) components and have a weak skin barrier function compared with human skin.

Oxygen Plasma Treated-Electrospun Polyhydroxyalkanoate Scaffolds for Hydrophilicity Improvement and Cell Adhesion.

Poly(hydroxyalkanoates) (PHAs) with differing material properties, namely, the homopolymer poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), P(3HB), the copolymer poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate), P(3HB-co-3HV), with a 3HV content of 25 wt.% and a medium chain length PHA, and mcl-PHA, mainly composed of 3-hydroxydecanoate, were studied as scaffolding material for cell culture. P(3HB) and P(3HB-co-3HV) were individually spun into fibers, as well as blends of the mcl-PHA with each of the scl-PHAs.