Bio scaffolds in Skin Tissue Engineering:

Skin the largest organ, covers the complete peripheral of the bod.The loss of skin can occur for many reasons, including disorders, acute trauma, chronic wounds. Tissue-engineered skin substitutes signify a logical therapeutic opportunity for the treatment of acute and chronic skin wounds.Biomaterial scaffold plays essential role in skin tissue engineering, biocompatible scaffolds promote granulation tissue formation, fibroblast-driven remodeling, angiogenesis and re-epithelialization. New concepts of skin tissue engineering extend, based on which many natural polymers have been used in constructing artificial skin.

Collagenous biomaterials: Collagen is the most clinically utilized natural scaffold available for Tissue-engineered skin substitutes. Collagen as a major formation of the extracellular matrix protein of the dermal layer of the skin. The advantages include good biocompatibility, proper porous structure, as well as low immunogenicity.  The critical disadvantages that obstruct collagen applications because of its poor mechanical strength and rapid biodegradation rate. Therefore to control the degradation, numerous works have focused on the mechanical properties of collagen, such as chemical and biophysical cross-linking techniques or a structural modification method like dense film.For example, addition of matrix protein tropoelastin to type I collagen enhanced the proliferation and migration rates of dermal fibroblasts in vitro.

Non collagenous biomaterials: Gelatin, hyaluronic acid, fibrin, laminin, elastin  ,these are all  non collagenous biomaterials, under various process conditions, these polymers could form different phases such as suspensions,gels,sponges, films, or sheets. So these naturally derived molecules have been considered advantageous in their cell interaction and signaling contributions.

Acellular matrices:  Acellular Dermal Matrices (ADM) which is derived from full-thickness skin by removing cells and cellular components has been successfully used in human clinical applications. Structural and functional proteins that constitute the extracellular matrix protein, including collagen, fibronectin, laminin, and vimentin, Acellular Dermal Matrices provide an intrinsic microenvironment for cell adhesion and proliferation. ADM are released into the surrounding tissue to accelerate processes such as angiogenesis, cell recruitment, cell division, and even potential antimicrobial activity. These biological benefits have led to the application of ADM-based skin substitutes in burn cases.