Local delivery of adipose-derived stem cells via acellular dermal matrix as a scaffold: A new promising strategy to accelerate wound healing

Wounds, characterized by leading to a loss of integrity of the skin and a major cause of morbidity and mortality, are common challenges encountered in plastic and reconstructive surgery. The primary goals of treatment are rapid closure, restoration of function, and aesthetical satisfaction. Adult stem cells may provide new strategies to treat cutaneous wounds because of their prolonged self-renewal capacity and ability to differentiate into various tissues. In the past five years, some researches discovered bone marrow mesenchymal cells (BMSCs) could accelerate wound healing. However, there exist several disadvantages of BMSCs mainly including the limitation of the obtainable amount and the impairment of their differentiation abilities with the increasing age. Due to the limitation of BMSCs in clinical application, we turn to consider adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) as seeding cells in tissue repair for their own advantages. ASCs could not only possess capacity to differentiate into various lineages under appropriate conditions, but also release angiogenic factors that stimulate angiogenesis in ischemia injury models. Here we propose the hypothesis that ASCs locally delivered via acellular dermal matrix as a scaffold would enhance wound healing through both differentiation into endothelial and epithelial cells and production of angiogenic growth factors in cutaneous wounds. Furthermore, ASCs seeded acellular scaffold can be believed to offer more benefits for introducing stem cells to the local ischemia environment as it provides a framework for the support of their regenerative capacity. Therefore, if the hypothesis is proved to be practical, it might represent a novel therapeutic approach and enhance cutaneous wound healing more effectively. Crown Copyright (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.