Wound coverage by a sheet of epidermal cells grown in vitro from dispersed single cell preparations.

Epidermal cells have been grown into multilayered sheets resembling full-thickness human epidermis using a new tissue culture technique. To evaluate their viability in an in vivo situation, such cells were transplanted under the kidney capsule and into a subcutaneous position in the nude mouse. In both locations cells survived and limited growth was observed. Maturation of the epidermal cells resulted in the appearance of keratohyalin granules and cell desquamation. To assess the potential use of tissue cultured cells for wound treatment in man, the same method was used to grow dog cells in vitro. Sheets of multilayered dog epidermal cells grown in vitro from a single cell suspension were used to cover fresh or granulating wounds. The epidermal cells transplanted in this way remained viable and wound coverage was achieved within 1 week. No clinical or histological signs of rejection of allograft tissue were observed during a 6-week period of observation.