Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Shanghai Tissue Engineering Key Laboratory, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine , Shanghai, P.R. China .
Tissue Eng Part A. 2018 Mar;24(5-6):382-393. doi: 10.1089/ten.TEA.2016.0550. Epub 2017 Jul 3.
Hypertrophic scar (HS) is a dermal fibroproliferative disease characterized by fibroblast over-proliferation, overproduction, and deposition of the extracellular matrix. Growing evidence demonstrated that adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) secrete a plethora of trophic and antifibrotic factors, which suppress inflammation and ameliorate fibrosis of different tissues. However, few studies investigate their effect on repressing HS activity. This study evaluated the suppressing effect of ASCs on HS fibroblast bioactivity and the possible mechanism via a coculture model. HS-derived fibroblasts (HSFs) and ASCs were isolated from individual patients. HSFs or HSFs treated with transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) were cocultured with ASCs and the change of HSF cellular behaviors, such as cell proliferation, migration, contractility, and gene/protein expression of scar-related molecules, were evaluated by cell counting assay, cell cycle analysis, scratch wound assay, fibroblast-populated collagen lattice (FPCL) contractility assay, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, ELISA, and western blotting assay. After 5 days of ASC coculture treatment, the expression levels of collagen I (Col 1), collagen III (Col 3), fibronectin (FN), TGF-β1, interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), and alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in HSFs decreased significantly while the expression levels of decorin (DCN) and MMP-1/TIMP-1 (matrix metalloproteinase/tissue inhibitor of MMP) ratio increased significantly. Besides, after 5 days of exogenous TGF-β1 stimulation, the expression levels of Col 1, FN, TGF-β1, IL-6, CTGF, and α-SMA in HSFs increased significantly. Impressively, all these increased gene expression levels were reversed by 5 days of ASCs coculture treatment. Additionally, the proliferation, migration, and contractility of HSFs were all significantly reduced by ASC coculture treatment. Furthermore, the protein levels of TGF-β1 and intracellular signal pathway-related molecules, such as p-smad2, p-smad3, p-Stat3, and p-ERK, were downregulated significantly in HSFs after 5 days of ASCs coculture treatment. This study demonstrated that coculture of HSFs with ASCs not only inhibited proliferation, migration, and contractility of HSFs but also decreased the expression levels of HSF-related or TGF-β1-induced molecules. Additionally, the antifibrotic effect on HSFs was likely mediated by the inhibition of multiple intracellular signaling. The results of this study suggest the therapeutic potential of ASCs for HS treatment, which is worth of further investigation.
增生性瘢痕(HS)是一种以成纤维细胞过度增殖、过度产生和细胞外基质沉积为特征的真皮纤维增生性疾病。越来越多的证据表明,脂肪来源的干细胞(ASCs)分泌大量的营养和抗纤维化因子,抑制炎症,改善不同组织的纤维化。然而,很少有研究探讨它们对抑制 HS 活性的影响。本研究通过共培养模型评估了 ASCs 对 HS 成纤维细胞生物活性的抑制作用及其可能的机制。从个体患者中分离出 HS 衍生的成纤维细胞(HSFs)和 ASCs。用转化生长因子-β1(TGF-β1)处理 HSFs 后,与 ASCs 共培养,并通过细胞计数法、细胞周期分析、划痕实验、成纤维细胞填充胶原晶格(FPCL)收缩实验、实时定量聚合酶链反应、酶联免疫吸附测定和 Western blot 检测 HSF 细胞行为的变化,如细胞增殖、迁移、收缩和瘢痕相关分子的基因/蛋白表达。经过 5 天的 ASC 共培养处理后,HSFs 中胶原 I(Col1)、胶原 III(Col3)、纤维连接蛋白(FN)、转化生长因子-β1(TGF-β1)、白细胞介素-6(IL-6)、白细胞介素-8(IL-8)、结缔组织生长因子(CTGF)和α-平滑肌肌动蛋白(α-SMA)的表达水平显著降低,而聚集蛋白聚糖(DCN)和基质金属蛋白酶/组织抑制剂 MMP(MMP-1/TIMP-1)的表达水平显著升高。此外,在 5 天的外源性 TGF-β1 刺激后,HSFs 中 Col1、FN、TGF-β1、IL-6、CTGF 和α-SMA 的表达水平显著升高。令人印象深刻的是,所有这些增加的基因表达水平在 5 天的 ASC 共培养处理后都被逆转。此外,HSFs 的增殖、迁移和收缩能力均显著降低。此外,在 5 天的 ASC 共培养处理后,HSFs 中的 TGF-β1 和细胞内信号通路相关分子,如 p-smad2、p-smad3、p-Stat3 和 p-ERK 的蛋白水平显著下调。本研究表明,HSFs 与 ASCs 共培养不仅抑制了 HSFs 的增殖、迁移和收缩,还降低了 HSF 相关或 TGF-β1 诱导的分子的表达水平。此外,对 HSFs 的抗纤维化作用可能是通过抑制多种细胞内信号通路介导的。本研究结果提示 ASCs 治疗 HS 具有潜在的治疗作用,值得进一步研究。
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