Safe Test
Russian scientists have created an analogue of human skin
Maria Nedyuk, Izvestia
Scientists of the Kurchatov Institute have grown a skin analogue from human cells to test pharmacological preparations. The development is very promising in terms of drug testing, since researchers no longer need to conduct tests on animals and humans. In addition, the developed technology for obtaining an artificial equivalent of human skin makes it possible to simulate various diseases, and therefore methods of combating it.
The basis of the activity of the laboratory of biocompatible matrices and tissue engineering of the Kurchatov complex of NBICS Technologies is fundamental research of the biology of the skin and the features of its regeneration. In particular, they are engaged in assessing the impact of various factors on the development of skin and hair, as well as on their ability to recover.
As Yulia Chikitkina, an employee of this laboratory, told Izvestia, both two-dimensional and three-dimensional skin models are being created as part of the research.
– If we talk about the 2D format, then these are epidermal cells – keratinocytes, or dermis (the inner layer of the skin) – fibroblasts grown in a monolayer on a rigid basis. And three–dimensional (3D) models include artificial skin equivalents that include several layers of cells and form a certain spatial structure," Yulia Chikitkina noted. – The composition of the 3D equivalent may include different types of cells corresponding to different "departments" of the skin. There are three of them in total: subcutaneous fat, dermis and epidermis.
In our laboratory, we work with two-component equivalents of human skin, including analogues of the dermis and epidermis.
The process of growing skin occurs as follows: first, keratinocytes are isolated from the epidermis of laboratory animals or humans. For this, as a rule, fragments of skin left after various surgical operations (for example, in plastic surgery) are used. Then the donor cells are sown on a special substrate – a polymer matrix of various composition and structure. Such "blanks" are placed in Petri dishes and incubated at 37 ° C for one and a half to two weeks. This time is usually enough to form a functional equivalent of the skin, modeling many aspects of its physiology.
The grown tissue models are promising from the point of view of their application for the treatment of extensive burn injuries.
– Externally, this "skin" is very similar to the natural one and reacts to various influences in a similar way, despite the fact that it is an artificial tissue grown "in vitro" (in vitro). Especially if it is grown from the cells of the patient himself and does not cause an immune response," Yulia Chikitkina said.
The skin models developed by scientists of the Kurchatov Institute can be used for preclinical testing of various pharmacological preparations. It's more humane than using animals.
The use of skin equivalents in vitro also makes it possible to standardize the methodology of experiments and, accordingly, achieve more reproducible results than in in vivo experiments – after all, each person or animal has individual characteristics.
Another advantage of artificial analogues of native human skin is the possibility of developing a model that most fully meets the requirements of testing a certain pharmaceutical preparation. Using this technique, it is also possible to simulate "in vitro" various skin diseases – for example, psoriasis, complications of diabetes and many others. To do this, scientists use cells isolated from the skin of a sick person, or an organotypic culture, which is pieces of skin (biopsies) obtained directly from a patient (for example, a patient with psoriasis). These biopsies are cultured in the same way as artificial tissue equivalents obtained from individual cells and can be used in experiments.
Growing tissues and organs in vitro is a very promising area of science, Evgeny Plotnikov, associate professor at the Research School of Chemical and Biomedical Technologies at Tomsk Polytechnic University, told Izvestia.
– With the refinement of the technology, this will allow to conduct an experiment almost indefinitely, standardize it or change its parameters for specific tasks, – said Evgeny Plotnikov. – Obtaining stable skin samples has prospects in the treatment of burns, extensive wounds – in general, the range of applications of this technology is very wide.
In Russia, the legislative framework for testing the biological activity of drugs not on animals, but on artificial models of tissues and organs (including skin) has not yet been worked out. But scientists believe that this area of modern biomedicine has a great future.
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