Bioinspired and Biomimetic Materials/Architecture in Skin Regeneration

Albert Einstein once said: “Everything you can imagine, nature has already created”. With almost four-billion-year evolution, from single-celled organisms to humankind, natural systems have been perfected and thus their functioning principle, design, and composition could be inspiring for the development of artificial materials and architectures. Skin, as the largest organ of human body, is a sophisticated biological system aimed to protect the internal organs and function as a sensing machine at its best. However, disease derived complications such as diabetes, trauma, and burns can lead to the formation of wounds or skin disorders. To address such challenging conditions, biomimetic materials and bioinspired patches could be the best options. Imitating the function and engineering principle of skin and replicating the collagen fibrous structure of skin’s extracellular matrix (ECM) in terms of (bio)chemistry and hierarchy could be promising strategies to regenerate the natural characteristics of a lost skin tissue. In this book chapter, biomimetic and bioinspired skin substitutes are introduced and discussed. Biomimetic protein hydrogels, living hydrogel materials, 3D bioprinted skin substitutes, electroactive hydrogel patches, alongside biohybrid nanofibrous materials are of interesting novel examples that will be thoroughly discussed. In this regard, the biomimetic/bioinspired technologies developed for skin regeneration in the last five years (2020 onwards) will be mainly considered.