Transplantation of oral mucosa explants using different biological and synthetic membranes in an attempt to achieve one‐stage reconstruction of soft‐tissue defects

Aim:  The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of combining freshly excised oral mucosa tissue with different biological and synthetic scaffolds for production of graft material for one-stage soft-tissue reconstruction. Material and Methods:  Small oral mucosa biopsies were finely minced and transplanted onto a larger circular subcutaneous wound bed in rats. Test groups included explants seeded onto (1) an electrospun scaffold, (2) acellular dermis, and (3) directly on the muscle fascia. The soft-tissue implants were examined using histology and immunohistochemical analysis for cytokeratins (CKs) 5, 10, 13, and 19. Results:  Mucosal explants grew into fully developed epithelium with keratinisation. Surprisingly, instead of spreading over the surface of the membranes, the epithelial explants curled up and formed cyst-like structures in all test groups. The epithelial layer of the cysts originated from mucosal explants grown on the electrospun scaffold showed weak positive staining for CK5, CK10, and CK19 similar to native rat oral mucosa. Other groups showed negative staining for the CKs. Conclusions:  Subcutaneous transplantation of freshly excised oral mucosa explants resulted in the growth of the explants and formation of inclusion cyst-like structures. The phenotype of the cyst epithelium was affected by the underlying connective tissue substrate.