Page 21 - IJB-8-2

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Bioprinted Gelatin-Recombinant Type III Collagen

Hydrogel Promotes Wound Healing

Jianghong Huang 1,2† , Xiaoling Lei , Zhiwang Huang , Zhibin Rong , Haihang Li , Yixin Xie ,
4
1†
2
5
3†
Li Duan , Jianyi Xiong , Daping Wang , Shihui Zhu , Yujie Liang *, Jianhao Wang *, Jiang Xia *
3
1
1
2
1
6
2,7
1 Department of Orthopedics, Shenzhen Intelligent Orthopaedics and Biomedical Innovation Platform, Guangdong Artificial
Intelligence Biomedical Innovation Platform, Shenzhen Second People’s Hospital, the First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen
University Health Science Center, Shenzhen, 518035, China
2 Department of Chemistry, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China
3 School of Pharmacy, Changzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu 213164, China
4 Shijiazhuang Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Shijiazhuang, Hubei, 050093, China
5 Jiangsu Trautec Medical Technology Co., Ltd, No.28 Shuanglong Road, Jintan Development Zone, Changzhou, Jiangsu,
213200, China
6 Department of Burn Surgery, Institute of Burns, the First Affiliated Hospital, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, 200433 China
7 Shenzhen Kangning Hospital, Shenzhen Mental Health Center, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518020, China
† These authors contributed equally to this work.
Abstract: Artificial skins are biomaterials that can replace the lost skin or promote the regeneration of damaged skin.
Skin regenerative biomaterials are highly applauded because they can exempt patients with severe burns from the painful
procedure of autologous skin transplantation. Notwithstanding decades of research, biocompatible, degradable, and printable
biomaterials that can effectively promote skin regeneration as a transplantation replacement in clinical use are still scarce.
Here, we report one type of all-protein hydrogel material as the product of the enzymatic crosslinking reaction of gelatin and a
recombinant type III collagen (rColIII) protein. Doping the rColIII protein in gelatin reduces the inflammatory response as an
implant underneath the skin. The all-protein hydrogel can be bioprinted as scaffolds to support the growth and proliferation of
3T3 fibroblast cells. The hydrogel used as a wound dressing promotes wound healing in a rat model of skin damage, showing
a faster and healthier recovery than the controls. The rColIII protein in the hydrogel has been shown to play a critical role in
skin regeneration. Altogether, this work manifests the development of all-protein gelatin-rColIII hydrogel and demonstrates
its use in wound healing. The gelatin-collagen hydrogel wound dressing thereby may become a promising treatment of severe
wounds in the future.

Keywords: Gelatin; Recombinant collagen; Hydrogel; Artificial skin; Wound healing

*Correspondence to: Yujie Liang, Department of Chemistry, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China;
liangyjie@126.com; Jianhao Wang, School of Pharmacy, Changzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu 213164, China; minuswan@163.com;
Jiang Xia, Department of Chemistry, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China; jiangxia@cuhk.edu.hk.

Received: November 18, 2021; Accepted: December 29, 2021; Published Online: February 24, 2022
Citation: Huang J, Lei X, Huang Z, et al, 2022, Bioprinted Gelatin Recombinant Type III Collagen Hydrogel Promotes Wound Healing. Int J
Bioprint, 8(2):517. http://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.v8i2.517

1. Introduction also acts as a barrier to safeguard the body from the
invasion of microorganisms and the damaging effects of
The skin is the largest organ of the human body. The unwanted chemical and physical stimuli. The skin is also
skin serves multiple functions, including regulation of a fragile organ; it is difficult to replace when irreversibly
body temperature and transmission of sensations, and damaged by severe burns, trauma, or disease [1-3] . Despite

© 2022 Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting distribution and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
13