Effect of Allogenic Adipose-derived Stromal Cells on Wound Healing in BALB/c Mice

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Adipose-derived stromal cells(ADSCs) are multipotent cells that have been found to promote wound healing through the process of angiogenesis and re-epithelialization. Generally, it is well known that the antigenicity of ADSCs doesn't affect stem cell therapy. In this study, we investigated the effect of allogeneic ADSCs in the wound healing process by applying allogeneic ADSCs on the wound healing splint model of mice. METHODS: Adipose tissue was harvested from the epididymal fat pads of BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. Twenty four mice BALB/c were divided into three groups; control, isogeneic, and allogeneic groups. Two full thickness defects with 6mm diameters were created on the back of BALB/c mice. 1x10(6) ADSCs from BALB/c mice were applied on the isogeneic group. In the allogeneic group, ADSCs from the C57BL/6 mice were applied. No cells were applied to the control group. The sizes of the wounds were evaluated in 3, 5, 7, 10, and 14 days after the wounds were applied, and tissues were harvested in 7 and 14 days for histological analysis. RESULTS: Wound healing rates had showed significant increase in 10, and 14 days when the isogeneic group was compared to the control group, but the allogeneic group showed significantly decrease compared to the isogeneic group(p<0.05). Histological scores in the isogeneic group were significantly high, but significantly lower in the allogeneic group when compared to the isogeneic group in 2 weeks(p<0.05). In the isogeneic group, thick inflammatory cell infiltration with abundant capillaries were observed in 1 week, and thick epithelium with many large capillaries were observed in 2 weeks. CONCLUSION: When isogeneic ADSCs were applied to wounds, they presented a faster wound healing rate compared to controls and the allogeneic group. Unlike general stem cell therapy, these findings suggest that cell therapy targeted at enhancing wound healing may benefit from the use of ADSCs with identical antigenicity, as opposed to allogeneic or xenogenic ADSCs.