Recently, a domestic and foreign research team collaborated and successfully devised a transplantable cell sheet for a wound. This cell sheet can be transplanted to a large and complex affected area like burns. Thus, the cell sheet is expected to present a new paradigm for wound regeneration treatment.
 A joint research team of Professor Sungjune Jung (MSE), Prof. Róisín M. Owens (University of Cambridge), and Prof. Jae Ho Kim (Pusan National University, School of Medicine) published a journal regarding the method to deliver a cell sheet to a target tissue, in the world-renowned scientific journal, Advanced Materials.
 One of the methods to regenerate defective tissues is the direct injection of cells into the target tissue. However, this method shows a minor effect due to the failure of injected cells stably attaching to the target tissue. Cell-sheet technology has been introduced to address the problems of the cell injection method, but external stimuli are needed to harvest and transfer a cell sheet.
 The research team developed a cell delivery technique that does not require external stimuli when transferring a cell sheet. The team achieved this biocompatible cell sheet technology by using the difference in cell affinity so that cell sheets naturally migrate to the target surface.
 They used flexible parylene as a culture surface. Through ultraviolet (UV) treatment, they found the optimal level of cell adhesiveness at which cells stably stick to the culture plate and are easily transferable to target tissue.
 The cell-sheet technology developed by the research team uses the intrinsic migration property of cells to enable cell transfer without external stimulation and detachment processes. Compared to existing technologies, the team’s technology has higher biocompatibility, simplified process procedures, and increased convenience.
 The research team transplanted cell sheets onto mice models with different shapes of wounds and observed the wounds successfully cured. Based on this finding, they proposed the possibility of a living cell band-aid that can be cut into desired shapes. In addition, the team’s cell-sheet technology can be applied to make 3D tissue by stacking cell sheets in a multilayer. The research team also anticipated the fabrication of artificial tissue with multiple types of cells.
 “This study is the first to confirm 3D cell movement between interfaces, and it is expected to be expanded into fundamental biological research,” said Prof. Jung. 
 Meanwhile, this research was supported by the Mid-Career Research Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF).