Laminin peptide-conjugated chitosan membrane: Application for keratinocyte delivery in wounded skin

Tissue engineering requires the delivery and survival of cells to organ sites needing repair. Previously, we showed that an active laminin peptide (AG73: RKR-LQVQLSIRT)-conjugated chitosan membrane promoted cell adhesion and spreading in vitro. Here, we seeded human keratinocytes onto AG73-chitosan membranes and found that nearly 80% of the cells were attached to the membranes within 2 h. The membranes carrying the keratinocytes were inverted and placed onto exposed muscle fascia on the backs of nude mice. After 3 days, the keratinocytes had migrated from the membrane and established a stratified epidermis-like structure on the fascia. Cells recognize the AG73 through transmembrane proteoglycan syndecans, which recognition system has not previously been tested in tissue engineering applications. We suggest that the AG73-chitosan membrane is useful as a therapeutic formulation and is applicable as a cell delivery system such as delivering keratinocytes to a wound bed. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.