Linköping researchers treat skin burns with 3D printing
By growing fibroblasts on tiny porous gelatin beads, similar to collagen
According to Linköping University, researchers have developed what could be described as “skin in a syringe.” The gel, containing live cells, can be 3D printed into a skin transplant, as shown in a mouse study. This innovation could open new possibilities for treating burns and severe wounds. The research was led by the Center for Disaster Medicine and Traumatology and Linköping University.
Large burns are typically treated by transplanting a thin epidermal layer, composed mainly of one cell type. This approach often results in severe scarring. Underneath the epidermis lies the dermis, a thicker layer containing blood vessels, nerves, hair follicles, and other structures vital for skin function. Transplanting the dermis is rarely viable, as harvesting it causes equally large wounds. The challenge is to create new skin that forms a functional dermis rather than scar tissue.
“The dermis is so complicated that we can’t grow it in a lab. We don’t even know what all its components are,” said Johan Junker, study lead and docent in plastic surgery. “That’s why we, and many others, think that we could possibly transplant the building blocks and then let the body make the dermis itself.”
Fibroblasts, the main cell type in the dermis, are easy to grow in a lab and can develop into specialized cells. Researchers grew fibroblasts on tiny porous gelatin beads, similar to collagen. To keep them in place, they mixed the beads with hyaluronic acid gel, linking them via click chemistry to create a syringable material.
“The gel has a special feature that means that it becomes liquid when exposed to light pressure… and once applied, it becomes gel-like again. This also makes it possible to 3D print the gel with the cells in it,” said Daniel Aili, co-lead of the study.
In tests, 3D printed pucks placed under mouse skin showed cell survival, dermis-building activity, and blood vessel formation—key to tissue survival.
In related work, LiU researchers created elastic hydrogel threads, 98% water, that can form mini-tubes for growing blood vessel cells. “We can tie knots on them… or pump fluid through,” said Aili. These perfusable channels could advance organoid development and engineered blood vessel creation.
The research involved Lars Kölby of Sahlgrenska University Hospital and received funding from the Erling-Persson Foundation, ERC, the Swedish Research Council, and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.
