A new type of biomaterial for artificial skin: dehydrothermally cross-linked composites of fibrillar and denatured collagens.

A new type of biomaterial for artificial skin was developed as a form of sponge by combining fibrillar collagen (F-collagen) with gelatin. The sponge was physically and metabolically stabilized by introducing dehydrothermal cross links. To get the final product, various conditions in the preparation of sponges were evaluated by in vitro cellular responses and in vivo tissue reactions. Fibroblasts placed on a sponge of gelatin attached themselves to it, migrated well into the sponge, and remained inside it for at least 7 days. However, sponges of gelatin showed structural instability for hydrolytic degradation by the cells. Most fibroblasts appeared not to penetrate into the interior of a sponge of F-collagen but to remain on its surface when fibroblasts were placed on the sponge, suggesting poor attraction of F-collagen toward cells. Implantation experiments of sponges of F-collagen revealed an intense infiltration of neutrophils into the sponge, indicating F-collagen as an inducer of the inflammatory reaction. These aggravating characters of F-collagen sponges were greatly improved by blending gelatin with F-collagen. The new type of collagen-based biomaterials developed in the present study is expected to become a useful matrix substance for artificial skin.