Wound healing effect of acellular artificial dermis containing extracellular matrix secreted by human skin fibroblasts

In this study, an acellular artificial dermis, composed of human collagen and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) secreted by cultured human fibroblasts on a bovine collagen sponge, was developed. Much of the newly secreted extracellular matrix (ECM) remained after the cell removal process. The main theme of this study focused on the matrix, rather than the viable cell components of the skin, as the major dermal deficit in the wound. Both the acellular artificial and bioartificial dermises, containing viable cells with ECM, were significantly less soluble than the collagen sponge, and the relative GAG content in the bioartificial and acellular artificial dermises was approximately 115-120% of the chondroitin-6-sulfate (CS) content found in the collagen sponge. In the group receiving the collagen sponge, the wound area gradually decreased to approximately 10% of its original area, while in the groups receiving the bioartificial and acellular artificial dermises, the wound area also gradually decreased to approximately 60 and 50%, respectively, of the original size over the 5 weeks after grafting. Both the bioartificial and acellular artificial dermises formed thicker, denser collagen fibers; more new blood vessel formation was observed in both cases. The basement membrane of the regenerated epidermal-dermal junction was thicker and more linear in the acellular artificial dermis graft than in the collagen sponge graft. In conclusion, the wound healing effects of acellular artificial dermis are no less than those of the bioartificial dermis, and much better than the collagen sponge graft with respect to wound contraction, angiogenesis, collagen formation, and basement membrane repair.