The Human Skin-Derived Precursors for Regenerative Medicine: Current State, Challenges, and Perspectives

Abstract

Skin-derived precursors (SKPs) are an adult stem cell source with self-renewal and multipotent differentiation. Although rodent SKPs have been discussed in detail in substantial studies, human SKPs (hSKPs) are rarely reported. Understanding the biological properties and possible mechanisms underlying hSKPs has important implications for regenerative medicine particularly clinical applications, as human-derived sources are more suitable for clinical transplantation. The finding that hSKPs derivatives, such as neural and mesodermal progeny, have both in vitro and in vivo function without any genetical modification makes hSKPs a trustable, secure, and accessible resource for cell-based therapy. Here, we provide an overview of hSKPs, describing their characteristics, originations and niches, and potential applications. A comparison between traditional and innovative culture methods used for hSKPs is also introduced. Furthermore, we discuss the challenges and the future perspectives towards the field of hSKPs. With this review, we hope to point out the current stage of hSKPs and highlight the problems that remain in this field.

Silver Sulfadiazine’s Effect on Keratin-19 Expression as Stem Cell Marker in Burn Wound Healing

“…These K19 expressions were distributed throughout the epidermal layer, in the outer root sheath of the hair follicle, and in granulation tissue within the dermis layer. These locations matched those described in previous studies [ 28 , 29 , 31 , 50 , 51 ]. In addition, the intensity of K19 expressions in the SSD group showed a similar pattern as in control group: weak-to-moderate intensity by 7 days post-wounding, a gradual increase to moderate-to-strong intensity by day 14, and a return to moderate-to-weak intensity by 21 days post-wounding.…”

Schwann Cell-Like Cells: Origin and Usability for Repair and Regeneration of the Peripheral and Central Nervous System

“…Such heterogeneity is a potential risk factor for their clinical transition. Moreover, there are no markers to distinguish purified human SKPs from the rest of the cells originating from hair follicles [ 189 ]. However, by sequential passaging of SKP-derived SCLCs, the purity of the cells could be raised over 95% [ 178 ].…”

Comparative transcriptome analysis of transcultured human skin-derived precursors (tSKPs) from adherent monolayer culture system and tSKPs-derived fibroblasts (tFBs) by RNA-Seq

“…Skin-derived precursors (SKPs) from dermis, firstly described by Toma et al in 2001 (1), are adult stem cells with the capacities of self-renewal and multipotency (2). Conventionally, SKPs are cultured as floating spheres in suspending serum-free medium with required growth factors (3); however, many studies have reported that isolating human SKPs by this protocol has many limitations such as relatively low yield (4), slow growth rate (3), and heterogeneous spheres (5).…”