Engineered skin products have the potential to assist healing of severe burns and non-healing wounds, such as diabetic foot ulcers and venous leg ulcers. Over 1 million people each year experience substantial, permanent disabilities resulting from burns, and non-healing wounds cost the U.S. health care system over $7 billion annually.
Engineered skin must provide several functions. It must serve as a mechanical barrier an dessication barrier. Ideally, this skin would also incorporate sensory functions, immune response, thermal regulation, and pigmentation for aesthetic purposes. While a number of cell-free skin substitutes have been proposed, a biomimetic skin would likely contain cells that impart these functions.
Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are a promising source of skin cells for engineered skin equivalents because hESCs have the potential to be a safe source of unlimited amounts of skin cells. The difficulties in developing hESC-based skin cells is (1) determining the proper signals to efficiently guide hESCs to differentiation along the desired lineages, (2) separation of the desired cells, and (3) integration of the different types of skin cells in to a functional, implantable product.
We have developed protocols to obtain keratinocytes, the primary cell type found in the epidermis, from hESCs by the proper temporal addition of extracellular matrix, growth factors, cytokines, and other soluble chemical agents. Our current efforts focus on characterizing the function of these hESC-derived keratinocytes in wound healing applications, and generating other types of skin cells from hESCs.
Keratinocyte precursors derived from human embryonic stem cells. Immunofluorescent staining for keratin 14 (green) and Hoechst staining (blue).
Copyright 2005 The Board of Regents of the University of
Wisconsin System
Date last modified:
12-Sep-2005
Date created: 8-Sep-2005
Content by: palecek@engr.wisc.edu
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