title: In vitro characterization of a chitosan skin regenerating template as a scaffold for cells cultivation.
abstract: Chitosan is a marine-derived product that has been widely used in clinical applications, especially in skin reconstruction. The mammalian scaffolds derived from bovine and porcine material have many limitations, for example, prion transmission and religious concerns. Therefore, we created a chitosan skin regenerating template (SRT) and investigated the behavior of fibroblast cell-scaffold constructs. Primary human dermal fibroblasts (HDF) were isolated and then characterized using vimentin and versican. HDF were seeded into chitosan SRT at a density of 3×10(6) cells/cm(2) for fourteen days. Histological analysis and live cells imaging revealed that the cell-chitosan constructs within interconnected porous chitosan showed significant interaction between the cells as well as between the cells and the chitosan. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis revealed cells spreading and covering the pores. As the pore sizes of the chitosan SRT range between 40-140 μm, an average porosity is about 93 ± 12.57% and water uptake ratio of chitosan SRT is 536.02 ± 14.29%, it is a supportive template for fibroblast attachment and has potential in applications as a dermal substitute.
authors.affiliation: Reconstructive Sciences Unit, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Abu Bakar Mohd
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Hilmi
authors.forename: Ahmad Sukari
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Halim
authors.forename: Asma
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.forename: Chin Keong
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Kartini
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Noorsal
authors.forename: Ismail
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zainol
keywords: Chitosan SRT; Human dermal fibroblasts; Interconnected pores; Three dimensional