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Published on: February 26, 2015
Engineering in vitro models to replicate the complexity of chronic wounds
Lucas Argandoña1, Kristina Ivanova1, Tzanko Tzanov2
1Grup de Biotecnologia Molecular i Industrial, Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC-BarcelonaTech), Terrassa, Spain.
Nature Communications
|July 6, 2026
Summary
Current in vitro models fail to replicate chronic wound complexity. This review proposes a new framework for developing better models of chronic wounds, including venous leg ulcers and diabetic foot ulcers, to improve healing research.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Tissue Engineering
- Wound Healing Research
Background:
- Chronic wounds pose significant clinical challenges due to persistent inflammation, protease imbalance, microbial issues, and poor regeneration.
- Existing 2D and 3D in vitro models inadequately represent the biochemical complexity of chronic wound phenotypes like venous leg ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers, and pressure ulcers.
- A critical need exists for advanced in vitro systems that can accurately mimic the non-healing state.
Purpose of the Study:
- To critically evaluate the capabilities of current 2D and 3D in vitro models in recapitulating chronic wound characteristics.
- To identify limitations in existing models regarding biochemical complexity and disease-specific features.
- To propose a novel framework for designing improved in vitro chronic wound models.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review and critical analysis of existing 2D and 3D in vitro models for chronic wound research.
- Evaluation of model capacity to simulate key features of venous leg ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers, and pressure ulcers.
- Integration of quantitative clinical wound exudate data to inform model design.
Main Results:
- Current in vitro models lack the necessary biochemical complexity to accurately reproduce the non-healing phenotype of chronic wounds.
- Significant discrepancies exist between current models and the in vivo reality of chronic wound environments.
- A gap was identified in models that can stratify based on wound etiology.
Conclusions:
- Advanced in vitro models are crucial for understanding and treating chronic wounds.
- The proposed feature-driven, aetiology-stratified framework offers modular design considerations for enhanced model development.
- Future research should focus on creating more biochemically representative in vitro systems to better simulate chronic wound conditions and facilitate therapeutic discovery.
