Designing multigradient biomaterials for skin regeneration

Skin defects are amongst the main causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, which account for significantly high socioeconomic costs. Today, much attention is being paid to tissue engineering and biomaterials strategies for skin regeneration, and among them, there is increasing interest in using multigradient biomaterials. Gradient-based approaches are an emerging trend in tissue engineering for the homogeneous delivery of therapeutic agents by using biomaterials. Several studies have acknowledged that wound repair mechanisms could be enhanced through biomimicking physicochemical properties of different skin layers. In addition, in different layers of skin tissue, cells experience various physicochemical gradients, which potentially regulate their behaviors. Therefore, interface tissue engineering and biomaterials approaches are gaining increasing attention for skin regeneration through the incorporation of physicochemical gradients within the engineered constructs. This review first presents a necessary overview of the biological properties of skin tissue and its changes during repair in different tissue injuries. Fundamental issues and necessities of using different types of gradient scaffolds and interface tissue engineering strategies for skin regeneration are addressed. The focus of this review is on describing current progress in designing gradient scaffolds for controlling and directing cellular and molecular responses in skin tissue. The main used fabrication approaches, including both traditional and advanced methods for designing multigradient scaffolds, are also discussed. (c) 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.