Growing human skin cells in low-calcium conditions for wound infection models

Andreea Scorupschi

Cardiff Metropolitan University

Awarded: £3,440

Andreea Scorupschi is an MPhil Health Sciences student at Cardiff Metropolitan University, and she will be awarded £3,440.00 to do her project “Establishing low-calcium culture conditions to maintain undifferentiated HaCaT cell line in in-vitro wound infection models”, supervised by Dr Sarah Hooper.

The Problem

Chronic wounds affect millions of people, are costly to treat, and are a significant burden on the NHS. They are often infected with bacteria that form protective biofilms, making treatments less effective and healing slower. These wounds can last months or years, causing pain and reducing quality of life.

Most research into wound infection and treatment still relies on animal ‘models’ such as mice, rats, pigs, and rabbits. However, animal skin and immune systems differ from humans, meaning results do not always translate well to patient care. These studies can also involve invasive procedures and raise significant ethical concerns.

Alternative lab-based in vitro models exist, but many do not accurately reflect real human wounds. In particular, they often use skin cells that have already matured (differentiated), whereas real wounds contain actively growing, immature cells. This limits how realistic and useful these models are.

The Project

Andreea’s project aims to improve a human-based laboratory model of chronic wounds so that it better mimics what happens in real patients—without using animals.

It builds on an existing 3D-printed wound model developed by Sarah Hooper, one of our previous Innovation Grant winners, which already recreates key features of human wounds, including realistic bacterial biofilms. The model has been further improved by replacing animal-derived materials with human alternatives, making it fully animal-free.

The next step is to improve the human skin cell component. Andreea will develop a reliable method to grow human keratinocyte cells (HaCaT cells) in a less mature, actively growing state, by lowering calcium levels in their culture conditions. This state more closely reflects the environment inside a real wound.

Using techniques including cell culture, microscopy and analysis of gene function, Andreea will:

Create a standard method for maintaining these cells in an undifferentiated state
Confirm this state using genetic analysis
Integrate the cells into the existing wound model

This will provide a more consistent and realistic system for studying how wounds heal, how infections develop, and how treatments work.

The Potential

By making the model more human-relevant and reproducible, Andreea’s project could significantly reduce the demand for animal experiments in wound research.

This more accurate model will:

Improve understanding of how bacteria and human cells interact in wounds
Allow better testing of antimicrobial treatments
Produce results that are more directly relevant to patients

In the longer term, this approach supports a wider shift towards animal-free, human-based research methods. It also offers a practical tool that other laboratories can adopt, helping to standardise research and improve consistency across studies.

Ultimately, this work could lead to better treatments for chronic wounds while replacing animal use and improving the quality and impact of research.

Growing human skin cells in low-calcium conditions for wound infection models

“While animal models have played a vital role in biomedical research, I support the goal of replacing animal research with more human-relevant experimental systems. Developing alternative models that are scientifically solid and ethically responsible is a crucial step forward. What particularly attracts me to the mission of Replacing Animal Research is the focus on enhancing translational relevance rather than merely reducing animal use.”

Andreea Scorupschi