Cell biology

Biology

Mesenchymal stem cell

Biomedical engineering

Materials science

Myofibroblast

Cell culture

Surgery

Dermis

Stem cell

Fibrosis

Extracellular matrix

Tissue engineering

Regeneration (biology)

Biochemistry

SILK

Genetics

In vitro

Wharton's jelly

Skin repair

Fibroin

Composite material

Medicine

Chemistry

Granulation tissue

Fibroblast

Dermal fibroblast

Wound healing

Pathology

Stem Cell Research & Therapy

The treatment of extensive and/or chronic skin wounds is a widespread and costly public health problem. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been proposed as a potential cell therapy for inducing wound healing in different clinical settings, alone or in combination with biosynthetic scaffolds. Among them, silk fibroin (SF) seeded with MSCs has been shown to have increased efficacy in skin wound healing experimental models. In this report, we investigated the wound healing effects of electrospun SF scaffolds cellularized with human Wharton’s jelly MSCs (Wj-MSCs-SF) using a murine excisional wound splinting model. Immunohistopathological examination after transplant confirmed the presence of infiltrated human fibroblast-like CD90-positive cells in the dermis of the Wj-MSCs-SF-treated group, yielding neoangiogenesis, decreased inflammatory infiltrate and myofibroblast proliferation, less collagen matrix production, and complete epidermal regeneration. These findings indicate that Wj-MSCs transplanted in the wound bed on a silk fibroin scaffold contribute to the generation of a well-organized and vascularized granulation tissue, enhance reepithelization of the wound, and reduce the formation of fibrotic scar tissue, highlighting the potential therapeutic effects of Wj-MSC-based tissue engineering approaches to non-healing wound treatment.

Silk fibroin scaffolds seeded with Wharton’s jelly mesenchymal stem cells enhance re-epithelialization and reduce formation of scar tissue after cutaneous wound healing