Preliminary study of a polycaprolactone membrane utilized as epidermal substrate.
Solvent-cast sheets of polycaprolactone were biaxially stretched to produce 10-15 microm thick films. PCL films were found to have a tensile strength of 55 MPa which is about two and a half times stronger than native skin. One of our previous studies using non-coated PCL membranes showed that only 36% of the membrane surface was covered with keratinocytes after 9 days of culture. The present study examined the effects of coating the surface of PCL membranes with fibrin on the proliferation of keratinocytes. Qualitative analysis revealed that the cells attached and proliferated better on coated PCL films. Keratinocytes exhibited healthy cobblestone morphology and proliferated as continuous monolayers over a period of 16 days. The results indicated that fibrin coated PCL films would support the attachment and proliferation of human keratinocytes and have the potential to be applied as a matrix material for tissue engineering an epidermal equivalent.
Khor
Hwei Ling
HL
Division of Bioengineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Ng
Kee Woei
KW
Htay
Aung Soe
AS
Schantz
Jan-Thorsten
JT
Teoh
Swee Hin
SH
Hutmacher
Dietmar W
DW