Medical Design and Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • Subscribe to Print Magazine
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech

Scientists Grow Functional Multi-Layered Skin Grafts (and they Glow Green)

April 4, 2016 By Sam Brusco

Patients coming in with severe burns will often receive lab-grown skin grafts to begin the healing process. Unfortunately, the lab-grown skin is a less complex substitute—real skin contains three layers: epidermis, the largely waterproof outer layer; dermis, which is elastic with oil and sweat glands, hair follicles, nerve endings, and blood vessels, and the subcutaneous fat layer below that insulates and pads.

According to a study recently published in the journal Science Advances, researchers from the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Japan have been able to create transplantable skin patches with all three layers from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells cultured from mice.

The cells were harvested from mouse gums and turned into iPS cells. Once cultured, the cells developed into embryoid bodies, a 3D mass of cells somewhat like those found in the developing embryo of a body. These were then implanted in immunodeficient mice and developed into layered, functional skin without immune cell attack.

Also, because of a genetic marker it glows green to help the researchers locate the transplanted tissue. (Credit: Takashi Tsuji, RIKEN)

Once grown, some of this newly grown “skin” was then transplanted onto hairless mice. The skin did its work and took: tufts of black fur began growing, normal skin oils were secreted, and it even connected to the nearby nerve and muscle tissue.

“Up until now, artificial skin development has been hampered by the fact that the skin lacked the important organs, such as hair follicles and exocrine glands, which allow the skin to play its important role in regulation,” reported lead RIKEN researcher Takashi Tsuji in a press release. With this new technique, we have successfully grown skin that replicates the function of normal tissue. We are coming ever closer to the dream of being able to recreate actual organs in the lab for transplantation, and also believe that tissue grown through this method could be used as an alternative to animal testing of chemicals.”

The secret sauce to the whole experiment was the skin’s treatment with Wnt10b, a signaling molecule. It was because of this that the cultured skin developed more hair follicles, making it that much closer to natural skin.

Obviously it will be a while before humans can start receiving these multi-layered skin grafts. More research needs to be done with the mice, and the fact that the mice receiving the initial transplant needed to be immunodeficient for the implant to develop properly will be a hurdle to overcome. To keep the graft from rejecting in human transplants, it seems that the human would then have to be immunodeficient—the ethical issues of farming these on immune-compromised patients could present a real problem.

Related Articles Read More >

A series of before-and-after brain scans showing improvement in long COVID patients after hyperbaric oxygen therapy
Long COVID study finds potential in hyperbaric oxygen therapy
Rockwell Experience Center opens at Dean Kamen’s Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute
What is microscale 3D printing? Lessons learned from Mayo Clinic
cleveland-clinic-disruptors-2021
The top 10 medical disruptors of 2021

DeviceTalks Weekly.

August 12, 2022
DTW – Medtronic’s Mauri brings years of patient care to top clinical, regulatory, scientific post
See More >

MDO Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Subscribe to Medical Design & Outsourcing. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading medical design engineering magazine today.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
DeviceTalks

DeviceTalks is a conversation among medical technology leaders. It's events, podcasts, webinars and one-on-one exchanges of ideas & insights.

DeviceTalks

New MedTech Resource

Medical Tubing

Enewsletter Subscriptions

Enewsletter Subscriptions

MassDevice

Mass Device

The Medical Device Business Journal. MassDevice is the leading medical device news business journal telling the stories of the devices that save lives.

Visit Website
MDO ad
Medical Design and Outsourcing
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • MedTech100 Index
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Medical Design Sourcing
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World
  • R&D World
  • About Us/Contact
  • Advertise With Us
  • Subscribe to Print Magazine
  • Subscribe to E-newsletter
  • Attend our Monthly Webinars
  • Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
  • Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media LLC. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • Subscribe to Print Magazine
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech