来自波哈科学技术大学（Postech）和帕桑国立大学拥有3D印刷了一种体外人造皮肤模型，以观察糖尿病患者患有皮肤疾病。
According to the researchers, despite ongoing advances in producing artificial skin with 3D cell printing technology, a disease model displaying the pathological processes present in native skin has not yet been reported.
因此，研究小组开始使用3D细胞打印技术对3D患病的皮肤组织建模并与2型糖尿病相关的生理过程。研究人员还通过应用测试药物来证明其新型药物开发模型的可行性。
“Through 3D cell printing, we can now observe skin diseases in vitro, without actually experiencing it,” said the researchers. “We anticipate it to be a way to replace animal models that have been conventionally used to observe skin disease.
“重要的是，它作为新药开发的疾病模型的适用性已得到证明。”
与糖尿病有关的皮肤问题
According to theAmerican Diabetes Association, skin health problems are often the first visible signs of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes can make existing skin problems worse and cause new issues, such as blisters, rashes, fungal infections, and itching.
当人体对胰岛素不正常反应或无法产生足够的胰岛素以维持正常血糖水平时，通常会发生这种反应。长期糖尿病并发症与高血糖（高血糖）往往与血液循环不良有关，这会损害细胞功能并使自我修复变得困难。
根据研究人员的说法，与糖尿病相关的皮肤疾病仍然有效治疗不佳。In their paper, they outline that previous studies mainly focused on the development of diabetic animal models to investigate the skin’s response and develop medications for wound healing, however ethical concerns around using animals and the possibility of inaccuracies due to the genetic differences between animals and humans limit this approach.
因此，由Postech的Don-Woo Cho和Minjun Ahn和Pusan国立大学的Byoung Soo Kim教授领导的研究团队转向3D印刷，以设计人类皮肤模型，以更准确地预测人类皮肤的行为细胞。
3D打印人造皮肤
3D细胞打印已经被部署到世界各地研究项目中的皮肤病，真皮和表皮等血管化的皮肤层。
For their study, the researchers used a droplet-based cell 3D printing technique to fabricate diabetic human skin fibroblasts, cells that make up fibrous connective tissue, and keratinocytes, the primary type of cell found in the epidermis.
They then printed a diseased human skin model embedding these structures within the main skin layers (epidermis, dermis, hypodermis, and blood vessels) to create skin wounds that displayed the properties of type 2 diabetes.
研究小组假设，当正常的角质形成细胞与由糖尿病成纤维细胞制成的真皮层相互作用时，它们会分化为糖尿病表皮。
在他们的研究中，当他们观察到糖尿病人造皮肤模型的伤口缓慢（糖尿病皮肤的典型特征）时，这一假设得到了证明。当将含有血管的糖尿病脂肪组织层添加到模型中时，胰岛素抵抗，脂肪细胞肥大，促炎反应和血管功能障碍，所有这些都通常在糖尿病中观察到。
这些发现验证了研究团队的人造皮肤模型是一种可行的工具，可以观察和建模与2型糖尿病有关的皮肤疾病，以便进一步了解糖尿病患者中皮肤细胞的行为。
为了证明其工程糖尿病皮肤在皮肤病学研究和药物测试中的潜在应用，研究人员在三天的时间内将测试药物应用于模型的血管通道。然后，他们观察到表皮的功能可重复性以及人造皮肤的炎症反应减少。
展望未来，该团队预计他们的人造皮肤模型可以帮助取代动物观察和测试皮肤疾病的使用铺平道路，并最终为药物开发提供新的疾病模型。
有关该研究的更多信息可以在标题为：“使用3D细胞打印的患病人体皮肤的工程用于代表2型糖尿病的病理生理标志”published in the Biomaterials journal. The study is co-authored by B. Kim, M. Ahn, W. Cho, G. Gao, J. Jang, and D. Cho.
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Featured image showshow 3D cell printing was used during the study to fabricate the artificial diseased skin model. Image via POSTECH.
