The potential of bone marrow cells to orchestrate homeostasis and healing in skin

Bone marrow derived cells play a major role in the maintenance and repair of many tissues, mostly by the delivering of a variety of inflammatory cells. Recent evidence however suggests that bone marrow may also supply cellular substrate for rebuilding non-hematopoietic tissues following injury. This discussion addresses the potential role of bone marrow to provide cells to the skin for rebuilding of skin structures following injury and for skin maintenance

Potential benefits of allogeneic bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells for wound healing

Introduction: It is becoming increasingly evident that select adult stem cells have the capacity to participate in repair and regeneration of damaged and/or diseased tissues. Mesenchymal stem cells have been among the most studied adult stem cells for the treatment of a variety of conditions, including wound healing. Areas covered: Mesenchymal stem cell features potentially beneficial to cutaneous wound healing applications are reviewed. Expert opinion: Given their potential for in vitro expansion and immune modulatory effects, both autologous and allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells appear to be well suited as wound healing therapies. Allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells derived from young healthy donors could have particular advantage over autologous sources where age and systemic disease can be significant factors

Growth inhibition of primary keratinocytes following transduction with a novel TGFβ-1 containing retrovirus

Growth and migration of keratinocytes are known to be affected by the addition of exogenous cytokines, such as TGFβ-1, to culture media. We have developed a retroviral vector, LNTβ-1, that confers constitutive expression of human TGFβ-1 to transduced cells. Keratinocytes were exposed to retroviral particles generated in serum-free media, and infected cells were selected for with Geneticin. Transduced keratinocytes remained in culture as single cells instead of a normally grouped growth pattern. While these transduced keratinocytes survived in culture for several weeks, they did not proliferate and seemed arrested in their growth. Keratinocytes transduced with retrovirus not containing the TGFβ-1 gene appeared normal in their growth pattern. These findings indicate that high-level endogenous expression of TGFβ-1 in keratinocytes can at least inhibit, and possibly arrest, growth

Role of Extracellular Vesicles in Stem Cell Therapy

Burn wounds are a major source of morbidity and mortality in both the military and civilian settings. Research about the pathophysiology of thermal injury has revealed possible interventions that can aid this process to reduce scarring and wound contracture. Bone Marrow derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells (BM-MSCs) have been an exciting topic in research for many years. They have been shown to facilitate wound healing and tissue regeneration, two areas that are vital in the healing process, especially in burn wounds. More recently the discovery of Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) has allowed us to further characterize the immunomodulatory roles and understand the cellular pathways implicated in wound healing. The purpose of this review is to discuss the role of EVs in wound healing, and to propose that EVs are the main mechanism that deliver cellular materials to target cells to coordinate wound healing following tissue injury