Functional Skin Grafts: Where Biomaterials Meet Stem Cells

Table 1

Advantages and disadvantages of various cell sources used in STE.

Cell source	Advantages	Disadvantages
Embryonic stem cells	Pluripotent; Abundant source	Ethical concerns; Tendency to form teratomas
Induced pluripotent stem cells	Pluripotent; Ethically approved; Autologous	Difficult to develop; Carcinogenic and tumorigenic tendency
Differentiated primary cells	Closest to in vivo; Autologous	Difficult to isolate and maintain
Adult stem cells
(1) Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells	Clinically tested; Can be used in allogenic setting	Invasive procedure of isolation
(2) Adipose-derived stem cells	Non-invasive procedure of isolation; Can be used in allogenic setting	Clinically unapproved
(3) Skin stem cells	Predisposed to differentiation into skin cell lineage	Difficult to isolate
Cell lines	Robust; easy to culture	Genetically altered