Skin Grafts: Local quest for viable alternatives to autologous grafts using silk and acellular dermal matrices

Authors: Yanika Gialanzè, Angela A. Xuereb, Pierre Schembri-Wismayer

Corresponding: Pierre Schembri-Wismayer (pierre.schembri- wismayer@um.edu.mt)

Keywords: Skin graft, silk and acellular dermal matrix (ADM)

Doi: http://dx.medra.org/10.7423/XJENZA.2014.1.05

Issue: Xjenza Online Vol. 2 Iss. 1 - March 2014

Abstract:
The gold standard with regards to skin transplantation is the use of the patient's own skin ob- tained from a healthy donor site. Such grafts can be either full thickness skin or more commonly nowadays, split thickness skin. Various materials, having either natural and or synthetic origins, have been used in the engineering of skin substitutes to-date and these grafts are then confronted against autologous skin grafts. If proven to be successful, such matrices could be utilised in clinical applications such as in the treatment of burn wounds and in cases of skin ulcers amongst others. In this study the primary cells used, keratinocytes and broblast, were obtained from donor skin and cultured. Sca olds of xenogenic (raw silk) as well as of allogenic (acellular dermal matrices) origins were obtained via low-cost methods and seeded using the broblasts and keratinocytes so as to determine which gave the closest mimic to skin grafts. Out of the matrices assessed, the raw silk matrix al- lowed the best colonisation with skin cells in our hands. The ADM matrice also showed some cell colonisation, but will need further experimentation.

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