Perfusable and stretchable 3D culture system for skin-equivalent

This study describes a perfusable and stretchable culture system for a skin-equivalent. The system is comprised of a flexible culture device equipped with connections that fix vascular channels of the skin-equivalent and functions as an interface for an external pump. Furthermore, a stretching apparatus for the culture device can be fabricated using rapid prototyping technologies, which allows for easy modifications of stretching parameters. When cultured under dynamically stretching and perfusion conditions, the skin-equivalent exhibits improved morphology. The epidermal layer becomes thicker and more differentiated than that cultured without the stretching stimuli or under statically-stretched conditions, and the dermal layer was more densely populated with dermal fibroblasts than that cultured without perfusion due to the nutrient and oxygen supply by perfusion via the vascular channels. Therefore, the system is useful for the improvement and biological studies of skin-equivalents.