Center for Integrative Nanotechnology Sciences, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2020 May 18;15(5):e0232670. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232670. eCollection 2020.
Complex skin wounds have always been a significant health and economic problem worldwide due to their elusive and sometimes poor or non-healing conditions. If not well-treated, such wounds may lead to amputation, infections, cancer, or even death. Thus, there is a need to efficiently generate multifunctional skin grafts that address a wide range of skin conditions, including non-healing wounds, and enable the regeneration of new skin tissue. Here, we propose studying pristine graphene and two of its oxygen-functionalized derivatives-high and low-oxygen graphene films-as potential substrates for skin cell proliferation and differentiation. Using BJ cells (human foreskin-derived fibroblasts) to represent basic skin cells, we show that the changes in surface properties of pristine graphene due to oxygen functionalization do not seem to statistically impact the normal proliferation and maturation of skin cells. Our results indicate that the pristine and oxidized graphenes presented relatively low cytotoxicity to BJ fibroblasts and, in fact, support their growth and bioactivity. Therefore, these graphene films could potentially be integrated into more complex skin regenerative systems to support skin regeneration. Because graphene's surface can be relatively easily functionalized with various chemical groups, this finding presents a major opportunity for the development of various composite materials that can act as active components in regenerative applications such as skin regeneration.
复杂的皮肤创伤一直是全球范围内一个重大的健康和经济问题，因为它们难以治愈，有时甚至无法治愈或愈合不良。如果得不到妥善治疗，这些伤口可能导致截肢、感染、癌症，甚至死亡。因此，需要有效地生成多功能皮肤移植物，以解决各种皮肤状况，包括难以愈合的伤口，并促进新皮肤组织的再生。在这里，我们提出研究原始石墨烯及其两种氧功能化衍生物——高氧和低氧石墨烯薄膜——作为皮肤细胞增殖和分化的潜在基底。使用 BJ 细胞（人包皮衍生的成纤维细胞）来代表基本的皮肤细胞，我们表明，由于氧功能化导致的原始石墨烯表面性质的变化似乎不会对皮肤细胞的正常增殖和成熟产生统计学上的影响。我们的结果表明，原始和氧化石墨烯对 BJ 成纤维细胞表现出相对较低的细胞毒性，实际上还支持它们的生长和生物活性。因此，这些石墨烯薄膜有可能被整合到更复杂的皮肤再生系统中，以支持皮肤再生。由于石墨烯的表面可以相对容易地用各种化学基团功能化，这一发现为开发各种复合材料提供了重要机会，这些复合材料可以作为皮肤再生等再生应用中的活性成分。
