IN VITRO TESTING OF TISSUE ENGINEERING MATERIALS

摘要

The repair of physical damage is an essential day-to-day function of the skin and as with other tissue function such as the mounting of an immune reaction against an infectious agent it involves both cell proliferation and differentiation. Indeed, the ability of an organism to survive crucially depends on its ability to maintain integumental integrity. Wound healing is a complex process which is of paramount importance in mammalian homeostasis. Whilst tissue regeneration in lower vertebrates can restore severed limbs, in higher vertebrates wound healing is essentially composed of a fibro-proliferative response which usually leads to scarring. Wound healing involves interaction between resident and migratory cells, the extracellular matrix and cytokines/growth factors. . In normal wound healing, the regeneration of the epithelial and mesenchymal tissues of the skin is effected by keratinocytes and fibroblasts and is co-ordinated via complex cell/cell and cell/matrix interactions These responses are however, altered in chronic wounds in the aged with prolonged inflammation, a defective wound matrix and a failure of re-epithelialisation.