Self-assembled cell sheets composed of mesenchymal stem cells and gelatin nanofibers for the treatment of full-thickness wounds
Oanh‐Vu Pham‐Nguyen, Ji Un Shin, Hyesung Kim, Hyuk Sang Yoo
Abstract
Cell sheet engineering has attracted great attention because thin layers of tissue can be easily transplanted to defect sites. Wound-dressing materials are required to support fast re-epithelization, both with keratinocytes and fibroblasts, to enhance the prognosis and therapeutic outcomes. We prepared self-assembled cell sheets composed of adipocyte-derived stem cells (ADSCs) and surface-engineered nanofibrils (NFs). NFs were surface-engineered with multilayers of gelatin so that the cell sheets could spontaneously assemble within 3 days in cell culture plates. Dorsal wounds transplanted with the cell sheets exhibited higher wound-healing rates when a high concentration of gelatin was immobilized on the surfaces of the NFs. Histochemical staining revealed that those with gelatin-immobilized NFs showed a higher expression of cytokeratin and collagen in the re-epithelized epidermis. Keratinocytic differentiation of the epidermis was molecularly evidenced by the higher expression of keratinocyte-specific genes.