Gizaw Mulugeta, Faglie Addison, Pieper Martha, Poudel Sarju, Chou Shih-Feng
Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, The University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX 75799, USA.
Med One. 2019;4:e190002. doi: 10.20900/mo.20190002. Epub 2019 Feb 15.
Stem cell therapy has emerged as one of the topics in tissue engineering where undifferentiated and multipotent cells are strategically placed/ injected in tissue structure for cell regeneration. Over the years, stem cells have shown promising results in skin repairs for non-healing and/or chronic wounds. The addition of the stem cells around the wound site promotes signaling pathways for growth factors that regulate tissue reconstruction. However, injecting stem cells around the wound site has its drawbacks, including cell death due to lack of microenvironment cues. This particular issue is resolved when biomaterial scaffolds are involved in the cultivation and mechanical support of the stem cells. In this review, we describe the current models of stem cell therapy by injections and those that are done through cell cultures using electrospun fiber scaffolds. Electrospun fibers are considered as an ideal candidate for cell cultures due to their surface properties. Through the control of fiber morphology and fiber structure, cells are able to proliferate and differentiate into keratinocytes for skin tissue regeneration. Furthermore, we provide another perspective of using electrospun fibers and stem cells in a layer-by-layer structure for skin substitutes (dressing). Finally, electrospun fibers have the potential to incorporate bioactive agents to achieve controlled release properties, which is beneficial to the survival of the delivered stem cells or the recruitment of the cells. Overall, our work illustrates that electrospun fibers are ideal for stem cell cultures while serving as cell carriers for wound dressing materials.
干细胞疗法已成为组织工程领域的热门话题之一，即通过将未分化的多能细胞有策略地放置/注射到组织结构中以实现细胞再生。多年来，干细胞在治疗难愈合和/或慢性伤口的皮肤修复方面已显示出令人鼓舞的效果。在伤口部位周围添加干细胞可促进生长因子的信号通路，从而调节组织重建。然而，在伤口部位周围注射干细胞存在其缺点，包括由于缺乏微环境线索导致细胞死亡。当生物材料支架参与干细胞的培养和机械支持时，这一特殊问题便可得到解决。在本综述中，我们描述了目前通过注射进行干细胞治疗的模型，以及那些使用电纺纤维支架通过细胞培养进行的干细胞治疗模型。由于其表面特性，电纺纤维被认为是细胞培养的理想候选材料。通过控制纤维形态和纤维结构，细胞能够增殖并分化为角质形成细胞，以实现皮肤组织再生。此外，我们还提供了另一种视角，即使用电纺纤维和干细胞以逐层结构构建皮肤替代物（敷料）。最后，电纺纤维有潜力结合生物活性剂以实现控释特性，这有利于所递送干细胞的存活或细胞的募集。总体而言，我们的工作表明，电纺纤维对于干细胞培养而言是理想的，同时可作为伤口敷料材料的细胞载体。
