[Regenerative medicine for skin]

Abstract

Regenerative tissue engineering is moving rapidly from the fundamental research to the commercial applications. A number of skin substitutes have been produced by in vitro culture techniques. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has already approved allogeneic skin substitutes. Recently, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare published the guide-line for regenerative medicine. R & D Center for Artificial Skin of Kitasato University is now the heart of the Regenerating Medical Millennium Project (skin department) of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare since 2000. This center established the banking system for multi-center's clinical study in 27 hospitals across Japan, using the allogeneic cultured dermal substitute composed of hyaluronic acid and collagen spongy matrix with fibroblasts.