Factors affecting the mechanical behavior of collagen hydrogels for skin tissue engineering

Pensalfini, Marco; Ehret, Alexander E; Stüdeli, Silvia; Marino, Daniela; Kaech, Andres; Reichmann, Ernst; Mazza, Edoardo

doi:10.1016/j.jmbbm.2016.12.004

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Pensalfini, M., Ehret, A. E., Stüdeli, S., Marino, D., Kaech, A., Reichmann, E., & Mazza, E. (2017). Factors affecting the mechanical behavior of collagen hydrogels for skin tissue engineering. Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 69, 85–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2016.12.004

Abstract

The effect of the production factors yielding a functional dermal substitute was investigated by means of monotonic and cyclic uniaxial tensile tests, as well as electron microscopy visualizations. The role of (i) plastic compression, (ii) product incubation, and (iii) cell permanence in the collagenous matrix in order to achieve a skin-like behavior were characterized in terms of material and structural stiffness, in-plane kinematics, and cyclic response, as well as pore size and network density. The plastic compression resulted in a