Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Cutaneous Wound Healing: Current Evidence and Future Potential

Figure 5

Work flow of cell-based regenerative therapy. An ideal regenerative medicine strategy requires three components: an ideal cell type, biomimetic scaffold, and factors to create the desired biological response in vivo. Cutaneous wounds represent a harsh environment for cellular therapy due to their hypoxic environment and low pH which can affect the survival and potential of transplanted cells. The niche microenvironment can be manipulated with the use of scaffolds and growth factors to enhance cellular survival, promote cellular differentiation, and ultimately enhance wound healing in the clinical setting. Reproduced with permission from the authors: McArdle, Paik, Chung, Hu, and Walmsley et al. (2013) Manipulation of Stem Cells and their Microenvironment for Tissue Engineering. Surgery Curr Res 3 : 134.