Abstract:

BACKGROUND: With rapid development of cell biology, molecular biology technique, and tissue engineering, increasing studies focus on seed cells for constructing skin wound surface by tissue engineering.
OBJECTIVE: To summarize the biological characteristics of epidermal stem cells and investigate their regenerative and clinical application value in repair of skin wound surface.
METHODS: A computer-based online retrieval of SNKI and PubMed database for searching papers describing epidermal stem cells for repair of skin injury using the key words of “epidermal stem cells, tissue engineering skin, wound surface” in English and Chinese. Papers related to research progress in epidermal stem cells for repair of skin injury were selected. Papers that were published recently in the same research field or in high-impact journals were selected. A total of 129 papers were initially retrieved. According to inclusion criteria, 25 papers were included for final analysis.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Epidermal stem cells support for epidermal generation, differentiation and wound healing. Epidermal stem cells provide the condition for maintaining skin normal structure and intracellular environment due to their normal proliferation and differentiation and are the ideal seed cells of skin tissue engineering. They show satisfactory prospects in treatment of large-area skin defects, cell therapy of skin disease, and gene therapy. In vitro culture of epidermal stem cells is a prerequisite for studying tissue engineering of artificial skin. As the isolation, purification and culture technology of epidermal stem cells continues to improve, we can quickly build epidermis. Nevertheless, application of epidermal stem cells requires further investigation.