12.7 Applications
275
obtained from other animals whose skin closely resembles that of humans in terms of
porosity, thickness, mechanical properties and moisture content. Recently, artificial
skin based on hydrolyzed collagen in the form of gelatin has been developed by
different researchers (Dabrowska et al. 2017). Aside from reducing the complexity
of growing skin in tissue culture, it also addresses ethical concerns which surround
the use of human or animal skins for testing of products. Some of these artificial
skins are designed to mimic different aspects of the skin, porosity, water content and
mechanical properties. The artificial skin reported by Dabrowska et al. (2017) was
made using a composite of cross-linked collagen and cotton fibers. This resulted in
a skin-like material which mimicked the friction properties of the skin. The friction
properties of the skin are important when designing products such as textiles and
adhesive patches which are designed to interact physically with the skin. It seems
not surprising that collagen would play a role in such material since it already serves
as one of the key components of human skin.
12.7.2 Wound Healing
Collagen aids in wound healing by protecting the wound from infection and physical
abrasion, keeping it moist thereby allowing more effective and fast healing. It can be
used in combination with other wound healing aids such as antimicrobial agent, and
it can also serve as a delivery agent for drugs which support healing and pain relief.
In addition to this, collagen peptides can induce skin rejuvenation and healing by
signaling the fibroblast cells to produce new collagen cells. They can also promote
overall cell turnover by increasing the rate of cell proliferation and migration, such
that more old worn-out skin cells are removed and newer skin cells are formed.
Complete wound healing requires reformation of new blood vessels, new skin cells
and reconstruction of the different layers of the new skin tissue. Collagen deposition
is part of the key processes in wound healing and skin repair. The other processes are
angiogenesis, granulation tissue formation and re-epithelialization. A wound healing
aid should either act as a barrier to prevent further infection of the wound, serve as a
surface for cell adhesion to promote cell proliferation and differentiation or serve as
a scaffold for rebuilding if the new tissue, or all of the aforementioned. Such material
must be biocompatible and biodegradable should not induce any adverse immune
response and must have the right mechanical properties (Muthukumar et al. 2014;
Elango et al. 2018; Jeevithan et al. 2015; Chattopadhyay and Raines 2014).
When tested on human embryonic vein cells and in vivo on adult male mice,
collagen polypeptides obtained from the jellyfish R. esculentum and hydrolyzed into
different molecular weight showed significant wound healing bioactivity. Effective
and rapid acceleration of wound healing rate was also observed in rat skin cells
treated with collagen extracted from the skin of tilapia fish (Chen et al. 2019).
In improving the effectiveness of wound healing, collagen-based wound healing
material contribute significantly by reducing the hospital stay and cost of treatment.
275
obtained from other animals whose skin closely resembles that of humans in terms of
porosity, thickness, mechanical properties and moisture content. Recently, artificial
skin based on hydrolyzed collagen in the form of gelatin has been developed by
different researchers (Dabrowska et al. 2017). Aside from reducing the complexity
of growing skin in tissue culture, it also addresses ethical concerns which surround
the use of human or animal skins for testing of products. Some of these artificial
skins are designed to mimic different aspects of the skin, porosity, water content and
mechanical properties. The artificial skin reported by Dabrowska et al. (2017) was
made using a composite of cross-linked collagen and cotton fibers. This resulted in
a skin-like material which mimicked the friction properties of the skin. The friction
properties of the skin are important when designing products such as textiles and
adhesive patches which are designed to interact physically with the skin. It seems
not surprising that collagen would play a role in such material since it already serves
as one of the key components of human skin.
12.7.2 Wound Healing
Collagen aids in wound healing by protecting the wound from infection and physical
abrasion, keeping it moist thereby allowing more effective and fast healing. It can be
used in combination with other wound healing aids such as antimicrobial agent, and
it can also serve as a delivery agent for drugs which support healing and pain relief.
In addition to this, collagen peptides can induce skin rejuvenation and healing by
signaling the fibroblast cells to produce new collagen cells. They can also promote
overall cell turnover by increasing the rate of cell proliferation and migration, such
that more old worn-out skin cells are removed and newer skin cells are formed.
Complete wound healing requires reformation of new blood vessels, new skin cells
and reconstruction of the different layers of the new skin tissue. Collagen deposition
is part of the key processes in wound healing and skin repair. The other processes are
angiogenesis, granulation tissue formation and re-epithelialization. A wound healing
aid should either act as a barrier to prevent further infection of the wound, serve as a
surface for cell adhesion to promote cell proliferation and differentiation or serve as
a scaffold for rebuilding if the new tissue, or all of the aforementioned. Such material
must be biocompatible and biodegradable should not induce any adverse immune
response and must have the right mechanical properties (Muthukumar et al. 2014;
Elango et al. 2018; Jeevithan et al. 2015; Chattopadhyay and Raines 2014).
When tested on human embryonic vein cells and in vivo on adult male mice,
collagen polypeptides obtained from the jellyfish R. esculentum and hydrolyzed into
different molecular weight showed significant wound healing bioactivity. Effective
and rapid acceleration of wound healing rate was also observed in rat skin cells
treated with collagen extracted from the skin of tilapia fish (Chen et al. 2019).
In improving the effectiveness of wound healing, collagen-based wound healing
material contribute significantly by reducing the hospital stay and cost of treatment.