Bioprinting has exhibited remarkable promises for the fabrication of functional skin substitutes. However, there are some significant challenges for the treatment of full-thickness skin defects in clinical practice. It is necessary to determine bioinks with suitable mechanical properties and desirable biocompatibilities. Additionally, the key for printing skin is to design the skin structure optimally, enabling the function of the skin. In this study, the full-thickness skin scaffolds were prepared with a gradient pore structure constructing the dense layer, epidermis, and dermis by different ratios of bioinks. We hypothesized that the dense layer protects the wound surface and maintains a moist environment on the wound surface. By developing a suitable hydrogel bioink formulation (sodium alginate/gelatin/collagen), to simulate the physiological structure of the skin via 3D printing, the proportion of hydrogels was optimized corresponding to each layer. These results reveal that the scaffold has interconnected macroscopic channels, and sodium alginate/gelatin/collagen scaffolds accelerated wound healing, reduced skin wound contraction, and re-epithelialization in vivo. It is expected to provide a rapid and economical production method of skin scaffolds for future clinical applications.
Keywords: 3D bioprinting; Hydrogel; Skin scaffold; Skin tissue engineering.
© 2022. The Author(s).