title: Biological evaluation of human hair keratin scaffolds for skin wound repair and regeneration.
abstract: The cytocompatibility, in vivo biodegradation and wound healing of keratin biomaterials were investigated. For the purposes, three groups of keratin scaffolds were fabricated by freeze-drying reduced solutions at 2 wt.%, 4 wt.% and 8 wt.% keratins extracted from human hairs. These scaffolds exhibited evenly distributed high porous structures with pore size of 120-220 μm and the porosity >90%. NIH3T3 cells proliferated well on these scaffolds in culture lasting up to 22 days. Confocal micrographs stained with AO visually revealed cell attachment and infiltration as well as scaffold architectural stability. In vivo animal experiments were conducted with 4 wt.% keratin scaffolds. Early degradation of subcutaneously implanted scaffolds occurred at 3 weeks in the outermost surface, in concomitant with inflammatory response. At 5 weeks, the overall porous structure of scaffolds severely deteriorated while the early inflammatory response in the outermost surface obviously subsided. A faster keratin biodegradation was observed in repairing full-thickness skin defects. Compared with the blank control, keratin scaffolds gave rise to more blood vessels at 2 weeks and better complete wound repair at 3 weeks with a thicker epidermis, less contraction and newly formed hair follicles. These preliminary results suggest that human hair keratin scaffolds are promising dermal substitutes for skin regeneration.
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, PR China.
authors.forename: Songmei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, PR China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sang
authors.affiliation: Engineering Research Center of Biomass Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang 621010, PR China.
authors.forename: Yaping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaoliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, PR China. Electronic address: xli20004@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Xudong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D053564:Keratins, Hair-Specific / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D051379:Mice; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D017768:Skin, Artificial; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D053564:Keratins, Hair-Specific