Umbilical cord skin
New skin can be grown from umbilical cord stem cells
ABC magazine based on the materials of Universidad de Granada:
For the First Time, Spanish Scientists Have Been Able To Grow Artificial Skin Using Stem Cells from the Umbilical CordThe staff of the Department of Histology of the University of Granada (University of Granada) for the first time were able to grow artificial skin from stem cells obtained from the umbilical cord.
The study, published in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine, demonstrates the ability of Warton jelly mesenchymal stem cells to differentiate in vitro and in vivo into epithelial cells of the oral mucosa and skin.
The study was conducted on the basis of the Medical Faculty of the University of Granada and in the experimental department of the University hospital complex Virgen de las Nieves (Virgin Mary of the Snow – VM). A model simulating the natural epithelial-mesenchymal interaction was used in the work. To create artificial skin, scientists used stem cells of Varton's jelly (connective tissue that forms the bulk of the umbilical cord of the fetus and protects the umbilical vessels from compression and mechanical damage) in combination with the fibrin-agarose biomaterial they had previously created. The development of culture was studied in laboratory conditions and when grafting the material to mice.
Despite the fact that umbilical cord stem cells could not fully differentiate into epithelial cells in vitro, when they were injected into mice, the expression of markers of epithelial differentiation, such as cytokeratins, placoglobin, filagrin and involucrin, was observed. Electron microscopy allowed us to confirm the formation of epithelial cell layers and intercellular junctions.
The results obtained in the course of this work confirm the data of previous studies conducted by the research group and received recognition at the World Congress on Tissue Engineering in Seoul. The developed method of obtaining new skin can be used to restore the epithelium of the skin and the oral mucosa – the tissues most susceptible to damage.
Currently, one of the problems in the treatment of patients with extensive burns is that it can take several weeks to create artificial skin using existing methods. This is due to the fact that the skin substitute is grown from fragments of the patient's healthy skin.
Professor Antonio Campos, a histologist from the University of Granada and one of the authors of the study, emphasizes that the new method allows the immediate use of artificially grown skin from stem cells, which can be stored in tissue banks and be immediately available if necessary.
Article by Ingrid Garzon et al. Wharton's Jelly Stem Cells: A Novel Cell Source for Oral Mucosa and Skin Epithelia Regeneration is published in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru29.11.2013