Use of skin tissue engineering for achieving the novel approach for fabrication of skin replacement by chitosan and gelatin Immobilization on silicone film

Nowadays, the tissue-engineered products have shown promising effect in the treatment of different skin-related damages such as wounds and deep burns. The nature of the surfaces of these substitutes plays a key role in the interaction between tissue and biomaterials. Before biomedical applications, modification of the surface of these materials is important. In this study, acrylic acid in different concentrations were grafted on silicone (after activating the surface of silicone film by two step plasma method). Then, chitosan and gelatin at different concentrations were immobilized on the samples. Then, surface characterization and properties were evaluated by ATR-FTIR and contact angle (sessile drop method). Finally, we evaluated cell attachment, cell spreading and the number of L929 cells. The results showed that the amount of grafted acrylic acid on silicone film was significantly influenced by acrylic acid monomer concentrations. Also the presence of the graft was verified by ATR-FTIR. The results also demonstrated that increased concentrations of acrylic acid and chitosan led to increased rate of surface hydrophilia. Cell attachment, spreading, and cell number onto silicone films treated by immobilization of chitosan and gelatin, were more in comparison to other samples. Due to its high biocompatibility, the tissue-engineered skin product can be used as a skin replacement in various skin wounds and burns.