# Cultured human fetal dermal extracellular matrix for scarless wound healing

> **NIH NIH R21** · BROAD INSTITUTE, INC. · 2022 · $171,600

## Abstract

Dysfunctional skin wound healing, including underhealing, overhealing and scarring
causes significant long-term morbidity including pain, functional restriction, and severe
psychological outcomes, all of which translates to a tremendous burden on the US
healthcare system. Fetal scarless wound repair is capable of healing with restoration of
normal skin architecture and preservation of both tissue strength and function. Extracellular
matrices (ECM) deposited by fetal dermal fibroblasts and extracted from fetal tissues have
shown to be superior in supporting functional wound healing than ECM from aged tissues,
but the availability of healthy fetal human tissues is extremely limited.
Here, we propose a solution of large 3D human tissues grown in the lab with human cells that
can be an unlimited and reliable source for the extraction of human ECM. The objectives of this
project are to 1) biofabricate microtissues with commercially available fetal or adult human
dermal fibroblasts to generate cultured ECM, 2) integrate with bioinformatics of the phenome
(proteomics, biochemistry, mechanics, etc) of the secreted ECM with microtissue
transcriptome to elucidate the key ECM-associated pathways involved in controlling the fetal
ECM niche, and 3) evaluate the in vivo therapeutic efficacy of adult and fetal cultured ECMs
against scarring of skin wounds.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10527429
- **Project number:** 1R21AR080274-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** BROAD INSTITUTE, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Blanche C IP
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $171,600
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-01 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10527429

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10527429, Cultured human fetal dermal extracellular matrix for scarless wound healing (1R21AR080274-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10527429. Licensed CC0.

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