# PHYSIOLOGIC BIOMATRICES AND EPIDERMOLYSIS BULLOSA

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · 1987 · $129,751

## Abstract

There is now considerable evidence that both cellular and non-cellular
components of the dermis exert significant influence on epidermal cell
differentiation, epidermal-dermal adhesion, and normal development of skin
basement membrane.  Furthermore, aberrations within the dermis and/or
basement membrane may lead to the clinical findings associated with several
blistering diseases of the skin; most notably epidermolysis bullosa (EB).

Within the past few years artificial dermal biomatrices have been produced
and successfully used as substrates for growth and at least partial
differentiation of epidermal cells; further technological improvements in
this field undoubtedly will have great impact on the future treatment of
burns and ulcerative diseases of the skin.  In addition, such reconstituted
skin may be potentially used to establish long awaited models for diseases
such as EB.  Unfortunately, to date the dermal biomatrices which have been
produced lack close biochemical similarity to normal intact dermis, thereby
potentially limiting their long term usefulness as artificial skin or as
models of particular disease states.

The first objective of this study is to develop a biochemically and
physiologically more natural dermal biomatrix by reconstitution of human
fibroblasts with purified native human matrix constituents (collagen types
I, III, V, and VI; fibronectin; dermal proteoglycans) found in intact human
dermis.  Second, several purified basement membrane components will be
added to the biomatrix surface prior to the addition of epidermal cells, so
as to assess the functional roles and influences of such constituents on
the reconstituted skin.  Third, recombinant skin equivalents will be
prepared using the optimized dermal biomatrix and cells from patients with
EB.  These latter recombinants will then be evaluated in vitro by
immunological, biochemical, and morphological means and in vivo as
xenographs in order to critically assess the influence of fibroblasts,
epidermal cells, and extracellular matrix constituents in each of the forms
of EB and ultimately establish a realistic laboratory model for this
disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3157698
- **Project number:** 5R01AR036629-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM
- **SAM.gov UEI:** YND4PLMC9AN7
- **Principal Investigator:** JO-DAVID J FINE
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1987
- **Award amount:** $129,751
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1985-09-30 → 1989-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3157698

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3157698, PHYSIOLOGIC BIOMATRICES AND EPIDERMOLYSIS BULLOSA (5R01AR036629-03). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3157698. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*