Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran 194193311, Iran.
Cosmetic, Hygienic and Detergent Sciences and Technology Research Center, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran 19419311, Iran.
Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Mar 24;21(6):2251. doi: 10.3390/ijms21062251.
Cutaneous stem cells, gained great attention in the field of regenerative medicine as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of skin and hair disorders and various types of skin cancers. Cutaneous stem cells play a key role in several processes like the renovation of skin structures in the condition of homeostasis and after injuries, the hair follicle growth and the reconstruction and production of melanocytes. Thus, gaining effective access to skin stem cells for therapeutic interventions that often involve active molecules with non-favorable characteristics for skin absorption is a valuable achievement. The topical route with high patient compliance and several other benefits is gaining increasing importance in basic and applied research. However, the major obstacle for topical drug delivery is the effective barrier provided by skin against penetration of the vast majority of exogenous molecules. The research in this field is focusing more and more on new strategies to circumvent and pass this barrier effectively. In this article the existing approaches are discussed considering physical and chemical methods along with utilization of novel drug delivery systems to enhance penetration of drugs to the skin. In particular, attention has been paid to studies finalized to the delivery of molecules to cutaneous stem cells with the aim of transferring signals, modulating their metabolic program, inducing physiological modifications and stem cell gene therapy.
皮肤干细胞在再生医学领域引起了广泛关注，它们是治疗皮肤和毛发疾病以及各种类型皮肤癌的潜在治疗靶点。皮肤干细胞在多种过程中发挥关键作用，如在生理平衡和损伤后更新皮肤结构、毛囊生长以及重建和产生黑色素细胞。因此，获得有效的皮肤干细胞，以用于治疗干预，这些治疗干预通常涉及具有不利于皮肤吸收特性的活性分子，这是一项有价值的成就。具有高患者依从性和其他多种益处的局部途径在基础和应用研究中越来越受到重视。然而，皮肤对大多数外源性分子渗透的有效屏障是局部药物输送的主要障碍。该领域的研究越来越关注新的策略，以有效地克服和穿透这一障碍。本文讨论了现有的方法，考虑了物理和化学方法以及利用新型药物输送系统来增强药物向皮肤的渗透。特别关注了旨在将分子递送至皮肤干细胞的研究，以传递信号、调节其代谢程序、诱导生理改变和干细胞基因治疗。
