Matrigel scaffold, alone or with human placenta-derived mesenchymal stromal cells, improves histological repair of murine excisional wounds

Matrigel scaffold, alone or with human placenta-derived mesenchymal stromal cells, improves histological repair of murine excisional wounds. Download PDF Abstract Impaired cutaneous wound healing remains a major clinical challenge, particularly when excessive inflammation disrupts tissue regeneration and extracellular matrix remodeling. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs; the term recommended by the International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy in preference to “mesenchymal stem cells”) have been proposed as therapeutic agents on the basis of their immunomodulatory and paracrine properties.

Human placenta-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (hPMSCs) are of particular interest because of their accessibility, proliferative capacity and low reported immunogenicity. Whether their benefit in cutaneous wounds is attributable to the cells themselves, to the delivery vehicle, or to both, has not been resolved. In this preclinical study, two full-thickness excisional wounds were created on the dorsum of female BALB/c mice and treated by intradermal injection with hPMSCs alone, hPMSCs incorporated within a Matrigel scaffold, Matrigel alone, or vehicle (DMEM) control.

Separate cohorts were euthanized on days 7, 14 and 21 post-wounding ( n = 5 mice, 10 wounds, per group per time point). Wound repair was assessed by histological and histomorphometric analysis of haematoxylin and eosin and Masson’s trichrome-stained sections. Collagen density was quantified morphometrically from Masson’s trichrome-stained sections, and re-epithelialization was graded on a five-point ordinal scale.

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