Introduction and Objective:

There is an important worldwide demand to develop biological substitutes that restore, maintain or improve tissue function based on the combined use of biomaterials that function as scaffolds, using cells that induce regeneration, to repair injured or diseased tissues.

Our objective is to culture and characterize the Wharton gelatin epidermal and mesenchymal cells on ultrathin chitosan matrices in order to evaluate the biocompatibility and its potential use as dermal substitutes.

Methods:

Two cellular models of human origin were used with the prior informed consent of healthy donors, mesenchymal stem cells obtained from Wharton's gelatin and epidermal cells, isolated by digestion with dispase of skin samples. Both cell types planted at a rate of 5,000 cel/cm2 and cell adhesion was evaluated by the quantitative CellTiter 96® (MTS) method and qualitatively using the DAPI labeling of the cell nuclei.

Results:

Through this study, homogenous cultures of both cell types, keratinocytes and mesenchymal stem cells were established. The 2 cell types showed an appropriate cellular adhesion and viability on the ultrathin membranes of chitosan, both by the MTS assay and by the qualitative evaluation with DAPI.

Conclusions:

It was demonstrated that chitosan membranes can be used as appropriate supports for these cell types, which could be used as living dermal dressings in the treatment of chronic ulcers and burns, since the system combines the regenerative and bacteriostats properties of chitosan with high cutaneous regenerative potential presented by both mesenchymal stem and epidermal cells.

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