Early-Stage Bilayer Tissue-Engineered Skin Substitute Formed by Adult Skin Progenitor Cells Produces an Improved Skin Structure In Vivo

The study demonstrated that early-stage bilayer tissue-engineered skin substitutes (TESSs), created using adult scalp dermal progenitor cells and epidermal stem cells with type I collagen, showed improved skin structure and wound healing in vivo. These TESSs were grafted onto full-thickness wounds in mice and evaluated after 4 and 8 weeks. Early-stage TESSs resulted in a normal stratified epidermis, higher proliferation marker levels, and thicker dermis with more vimentin- and CD31-positive cells. Notably, hair follicle formation was observed only in early-stage TESSs. These findings suggested that early-stage TESSs could potentially enhance clinical wound healing due to their efficient grafting and reduced apoptotic pathway activation.