@article {17988,
	title = {Poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) Bilayer Skin Tissue Engineering Constructs with Improved Epidermal Rearrangement},
	journal = {Macromolecular bioscience},
	year = {2014},
	month = {2014-03-04 00:00:00},
	pages = {[epub ahead of print)},
	publisher = {Wiley Online Library},
	abstract = {<p>Bilayer skin substitutes constitute an attractive strategy towards improved skinwound healing.\&nbsp;Therefore, solvent casting and freeze-drying methodologies are used to produce polyhydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate (PHBV) thin nanoporousmembranes and 3D porous scaffolds that\&nbsp;are combined in bilayer structures to recreate the epidermal and dermal layers, respectively. The\&nbsp;combination of these methodologies allow attaining a bilayer structure with a high water\&nbsp;retention capability and adequate mechanical properties, susceptible to enzymes degradative\&nbsp;action. Cultures established with human keratinocytes (hKC) and dermal fibroblasts\&nbsp;(hDFb) confirm the suitability of the PHBV structures to\&nbsp;support cell adhesion and proliferation. Nonetheless,\&nbsp;when co-cultured under defined conditions, hKC are able\&nbsp;to grow and rearrange in a multilayer structure with\&nbsp;proliferative cells in the basal layer, and cells expressing a\&nbsp;terminal differentiation marker in the upper layer.\&nbsp;Therefore, PHBV bilayer structures demonstrate properties\&nbsp;that favor skin cells performance, thus representing a\&nbsp;promising strategy to improve wound healing.</p>},
	keywords = {bioengineering, Biomimetic, in vitro epidermal rearrangement, polyesters, Wound healing},
	issn = {1616-5195},
	doi = {10.1002/mabi.201400005},
	url = {http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mabi.201400005/abstract},
	author = {Zonari, A. and Cerqueira, M. T. and Novikoff, S. and Goes, A. M. and Marques, A. P. and Correlo, V. M. and Reis, R. L.}
}
