Keratin scaffolds with human adipose stem cells: Physical and biological effects toward wound healing.
Che-Wei LinYi-Kai ChenKao-Chun TangKai-Chiang YangNai-Chen ChengJia-Shing YuPublished in: Journal of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (2019)
Keratin, a natural biomaterial derived from wool or human hair, has the intrinsic ability to interact with different types of cells and the potential to serve as a controllable extracellular matrix that can be used a scaffold for tissue engineering. In this study, we demonstrated a simple and fast technique to construct 3D keratin scaffolds for accelerated wound healing using a lyophilization method based on extraction of keratin from human hair. The physical properties of the keratin scaffolds such as water uptake, pore size, and porosity can be adjusted by changing the protein concentrations during the fabrication process. The keratin scaffolds supported human adipose stem cells (hASCs) adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation. In vivo study performed on ICR mice showed that keratin scaffolds with hASCs shortened skin wound healing time, accelerated epithelialization, and promoted wound remodeling. Therefore, keratin scaffolds alone or together with hASCs may serve as therapeutic agents for repairing wounded tissue.
Keyphrases
- tissue engineering
- wound healing
- stem cells
- endothelial cells
- extracellular matrix
- induced pluripotent stem cells
- pluripotent stem cells
- physical activity
- adipose tissue
- type diabetes
- metabolic syndrome
- insulin resistance
- skeletal muscle
- pseudomonas aeruginosa
- mesenchymal stem cells
- oxidative stress
- risk assessment
- small molecule
- staphylococcus aureus
- climate change
- amino acid
- bone marrow