Specialists of the Kurchatov Institute have grown an analogue of human skin in laboratory conditions. The development will help to test drugs and therapy regimens without the participation of living experimental subjects. As part of the research, two-dimensional and three-dimensional models are created. “In our laboratory, we work with two-component equivalents of human skin, including analogs of the dermis and epidermis,” said Yulia Chikitkina, an employee of the laboratory of biocompatible matrices and tissue engineering of the Kurchatov complex of NBIKS-technologies.
Keratinocytes are secreted from the epidermis of laboratory animals or humans. For this, specialists use skin fragments left after surgical operations. Donor cells are plated on a special substrate. "Blanks" are placed in Petri dishes and incubated at 37 degrees Celsius for one and a half to two weeks.
This is sufficient to form a functional equivalent of the skin. Externally, artificial leather is similar to real, it reacts in the same way to external influences. The technology holds promise for treating burns, extensive wounds and other skin injuries, scientists say.
