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

The study focused on developing an improved tissue-engineered skin substitute (TESS) using adult scalp dermal progenitor cells and epidermal stem cells, along with type I collagen. The TESSs were cultured for varying durations (5, 9, 14, and 21 days) and then grafted onto wounds in mice. Results showed that early-stage TESSs (cultured for shorter times) were more effective in grafting and led to the formation of a normal stratified epidermis with higher levels of proliferation and progenitor markers. Notably, only early-stage TESSs resulted in the formation of hair follicles and a thicker dermis with more vimentin- and CD31-positive cells. These early-stage TESSs also exhibited high levels of p63 and lower levels of apoptotic pathway activation. The findings suggest that early-stage bilayer TESSs could potentially offer better wound healing outcomes in clinical applications due to their improved skin structure and hair follicle formation.