A single 3D-printed patch of human skin, made from the patient’s own cells, could replace multiple painful skin graft operations for severe burns. Wound and scar management already costs the NHS £8 billion each year. In major burns, the area of skin lost can exceed the amount of healthy donor skin available, forcing surgeons to perform multiple operations that often result in extensive scarring and debilitating contractures. Current 3D printing techniques can create bespoke tissue structures, but natural biomaterials that best support cell growth are notoriously difficult to print. This project combines hyaluronic acid with type 3 collagen to create a “bioink” that can be printed into a bilaminar (two-layer) human skin substitute. The team will refine the ink’s mechanical properties for printing, confirm it delivers the right biological cues to form new skin, and test the resulting tissue’s durability and strength for surgical use. If successful, the approach would allow surgeons to print a patient’s own skin on demand, eliminating donor-site wounds and reducing the number of operations. For major burns, this would shift reconstructive surgery from a series of salvage procedures to a single, personalised intervention.
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Wound and scar management costs the NHS £8 billion per year. Skin loss can arise in the aftermath of burns, trauma or malignancy, with larger defects often requiring reconstruction in the form of skin grafting. In major burns, the defect may surpass the availability of donor skin, leading to multiple operations, extensive scar formation and debilitating and disfiguring contractures. Advancements in 3D printing technology have enabled bespoke three-dimensional structures to be created with incredible resolution, with exciting potential to generate de novo biological tissues including skin. However, challenges remain in combining the correct cells, biomaterials and environmental cues to successfully bioengineer bilaminar skin for use in reconstructive surgery. Natural biomaterials are excellent supporters of cell growth but notoriously challenging to print. Novel printing and crosslinking methods have surmounted these obstacles, meaning 3D bioprinted autologous skin is achievable with the correct combination of biomaterials. This project aims to combine hyaluronic acid and type 3 collagen to make a pro-regenerative bioink for 3D printing bilaminar human skin. The objectives of the project are to refine the mechanical properties of the composite bioink to facilitate 3D printing (rheology, printability assays, crosslinking); demonstrate biologically-relevant cues are directed to promote de novo skin formation (PCR, histology, immunofluorescence) and validate the durability and mechanical strength of the bioengineered skin to ensure clinical translatability for use in reconstructive surgery. The ability to 3D bioprint autologous skin for patients needing reconstructive surgery, especially in major burns, would be a paradigm shift in personalised surgery and clinically-oriented tissue engineering.
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