Researchers from The University of Western Australia will use biomaterials to create a lifelike 3D model of human skin to better understand and treat skin stiffness associated with age, scarring and disease.
If successful, in time the model could reduce the need for animal testing of skin products and enable personalised treatment plans for patients experiencing abnormal skin stiffness.
The three-year project, made possible thanks to a grant of almost $500,000 from the Denmark-based LEO Foundation, aims to create biomechanically bespoke, full-thickness human skin tissue.
Project lead, Associate Professor Yu Suk Choi from the UWA School of Human Sciences, said the next-generation technology would allow researchers to explore the mechanics behind skin stiffness – a problem associated with age and diseases such as skin fibrosis, which is caused by the body making too much collagen.
"Our skin changes as we age and one of the main reasons is its layers gradually become stiffer – a process that is even more exaggerated in skin disease such as skin fibrosis," Associate Professor Choi said.
"Surprisingly, these mechanical properties have received little attention in skin research, but with new advances in mechanobiology we now know that skin cells sense and respond to these mechanical changes."
The project will use smart biomaterials that mimic the natural stiffness of each skin layer.
Researchers will then manipulate the stiffness of different layers to track how the skin behaves and to see whether it can be regenerated.
"The insights gained may identify new treatment targets and support the development of 'mechanotherapy' – therapies that work by gently adjusting the mechanical properties of the skin to improve healing and reduce disease," Associate Professor Choi said.
If successful, the technology would allow scientists to recreate individual patients' skin and then model different diseases and therapeutics to determine a personalised treatment plan.
"The main purpose of the model will be to treat skin stiffening associated with fibrotic disease, but potentially any abnormal stiffness can be targeted by this," Associate Professor Choi said.
"It has the potential to not just treat but prevent skin stiffening, and to help develop skin grafts for burns patients.
"Significantly, by developing a realistic, full-thickness human skin tissue model, it could potentially reduce animal use in research and product development."
The research team includes burns specialist Professor Fiona Wood from UWA's Medical School and the Burns Service of Western Australia, biomedical engineer Professor Brendan Kennedy, from UWA's School of Engineering and the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, and bio-nanotechnology engineer Associate Professor Iyer Swaminatha Iyer from the UWA School of Molecular Sciences.
The project emerged from the Australian Research Council Training Centre for Next-Generation Technologies in Biomedical Analysis, directed by Associate Professor Iyer.
Associate Professor Choi, Professor Wood and Professor Kennedy are chief investigators at the Centre, which is based at UWA and is a collaboration with the University of New South Wales, Monash University, the University of Surrey and industry partners.
