Fabrication of Micropatterned Fish Scale Collagen Scaffold Using Microelectromechanical Systems Technologies for Oral Mucosa Tissue Engineering

Abstract

In this study, we developed a novel tissue-engineered oral mucosa with micropatterned fish scale collagen as a biomaterial scaffold. Marine collagen derived from the fish scale is considered to have a significant potential of becoming an alternative transplant material for mucosa regeneration due to its vast resources and minimal risk of transmitting infectious diseases. Eight different types of Grid-Rectangular (GR) negative patterns were manufactured using microelectromechanical systems technologies to evaluate size dependency in collagen replication and epithelial cell layer formation. Among the obtained histological images of the tissue-engineered oral mucosa, the height, width, and channel width of 100 μm showed the most successful formation of the epithelial layer and the most similar structure of oral mucosa in vivo. This study not only established a technique for fabricating a novel biomimetic scaffold but also made an extended approach to structural optimization for mold fabrication. We believe this study will be a crucial step for structural optimization in the future and will have a positive impact on the field of tissue regeneration.