Healing potential of mesenchymal stem cells cultured on a collagen-based scaffold for skin regeneration

Background: Wound healing of burned skin remains a major goal in public health. Previous reports showed that the bone marrow stem cells were potent in keratinization and vascularization of full thickness skin wounds. Methods: In this study, mesenchymal stem cells were derived from rat adipose tissues and characterized by flowcytometry. Staining methods were used to evaluate their differentiation ability. A collagen-chitosan scaffold was prepared by freeze-drying method and crosslinked by carbodiimide-based crosslinker. Results: The results of immunecytochemistry and PCR experiments confirmed the adipose-derived stem cells (ASC) in differentiation to the keratinocytes under the treatment of keratinocyte growth factor. The isolated ASC were seeded on the scaffolds and implanted at the prepared wounds. The scaffolds without cells were considered as a control and implanted on the other side of the rat. Histopathological analyses confirmed the formation of new tissue on the scaffold-cell side after 14 days with the formation of dermis and epidermis. Conclusion: These results indicated the capacity of ASC in differentiation to keratinocytes and also wound healing in vivo. Key Words: Tissue engineering, Keratinocytes, Mesenchymal stem cells