Evaluation of transplanted tissue-engineered oral mucosa equivalents in severe combined immunodeficient mice.

The aim of this study was to determine the optimal stage of development at which transplant human ex vivo-produced oral mucosa equivalents (EVPOMEs) in vivo. EVPOMEs were generated in a serum-free culture system, without the use of an irradiated xenogeneic feeder layer, by seeding human oral keratinocytes onto a human cadaveric dermal equivalent, AlloDerm. EVPOMEs were cultured for 4 days submerged and then for 7 or 14 days at an air-liquid interface to initiate stratification before transplantation into SCID mice. AlloDerm, without epithelium, was used as a control. Mice were killed on days 3, 10, and 21 posttransplantation. Epithelium of the transplanted EVPOMEs was evaluated with the differentiation marker keratin 10/13. Dermal microvessel ingrowth was determined by immunohistochemistry with a mouse vascular marker, lectin binding from Triticum vulgaris. The presence and stratification of the epithelium were correlated with revascularization of the underlying dermis. The microvessel density of AlloDerm without epithelium was less than that of EVPOMEs with an epithelial layer. Microvessel density of the dermis varied directly with the degree of epithelial stratification of the EVPOMEs. The EVPOMEs cultured at an air-liquid interface for 7 days had the optimal balance of neoangiogenesis and epithelial differentiation necessary for in vivo grafting.