Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells facilitate diabetic wound healing through the restoration of epidermal cell autophagy via the HIF-1α/TGF-β1/SMAD pathway.

In this report, we present evidence that uncovers a previously unidentified role of hypoxic BMSCs in regulating epidermal cell autophagy. The findings demonstrate that BMSC-based treatment by restoring epidermal cell autophagy could be an attractive therapeutic strategy for diabetic wounds and that the process is mediated by the HIF-1α/TGF-β1/SMAD pathway.