Atomic force microscopy in the production of a biovital skin graft based on human acellular dermal matrix produced in‐house and <i>in vitro</i> cultured human fibroblasts

The most efficient method in III° burn treatment is the use of the autologous split thickness skin grafts that were donated from undamaged body area. The main limitation of this method is lack of suitable donor sites. Tissue engineering is a useful tool to solve this problem. The goal of this study was to find the most efficient way of producing biovital skin substitute based on in house produced acellular dermal matrix ADM and in vitro cultured fibroblasts. Sixty samples of sterilized human allogeneic skin (that came from 10 different donors) were used to examine the influence of decellularizing substances on extracellular matrix and clinical usefulness of the test samples of allogeneic human dermis. Six groups of acellular dermal matrix were studied: ADM-1 control group, ADM-2 research group (24 h incubation in 0.05% trypsin/EDTA solution), ADM-3 research group (24 h incubation in 0.025% trypsin/EDTA solution), ADM-4 research group (24 h incubation in 0.05% trypsin/EDTA solution and 4 h incubation in 0,1% SDS), ADM-5 research group (24 h incubation in 0.025% trypsin/EDTA solution and 4 h incubation in 0,1% SDS), and ADM-6 research group (24 h incubation in 0,1% SDS). Obtained ADMs were examined histochemically and by atomic force microscopy (AFM). ADMs were settled by human fibroblasts. The number of cultured cells and their vitality were measured. The obtained results indicated that the optimal method for production of living skin substitutes is colonization of autologous fibroblasts on the scaffold prepared by the incubation of human allogeneic dermis in 0.05% trypsin/EDTA. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 106B: 726-733, 2018.