Bone marrow stem cells can be used to create artificial skin

Washington, January 15 (ANI): A new study suggests that skin can be regenerated using adult bone marrow stem cells.

Reported in the journal Artificial Organs, the finding attains significance as it marks an advancement in wound healing, and may be used to pioneer a method of organ reconstruction.

With a view to determining the possibility of repairing burn wounds with a combination of tissue-engineered skin and bone marrow stem cells, the study established a burn wound model in the skin of pigs, which is known to be anatomically and physiologically similar to human skin.

Yan Jin of the Fourth Military Medical University, lead author of the study, has revealed that engineering technology and biomedical theory methods were used to make artificial skin with natural materials and bone marrow derived stem cells.

The researcher said that after the artificial skin was attached to the patient, and the dermal layer had begun to regenerate, stem cells were differentiated into skin cells.

According to Jin, the cells are self-renewing and raise the quality of healing in wound healing therapy.

Upon grafting the engineered skin containing stem cells to the burn wounds, the researcher noticed that they showed better healing, less wound contraction, and better development of blood vessels.

Skin, the human body's largest organ, protects the body from disease and physical damage, and helps to regulate body temperature.

Any disease or burns seriously damage the skin, the body often cannot act fast enough to repair them. In certain cases, burn victims die from infection and the loss of plasma.

Skin grafts were originally developed as a way to prevent such consequences.

"We hope that this so-called 'engineered structural tissue' will someday replace plastic and metal prostheses currently used to replace damaged joints and bones by suitable materials and stem cells," says Jin. (ANI)