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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Med.
Sec. Translational Medicine
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1516116

Growth factors IGF-1, KGF and adipose-derived stem cells promote migration and viability of primary human keratinocytes in an in vitro wound model

Provisionally accepted
Nina Stadelmann Nina Stadelmann 1*Raymund E. Horch Raymund E. Horch 1*Rafael Schmid Rafael Schmid 1David Ostendorf David Ostendorf 1Ajay Peddi Ajay Peddi 1,2Theresa Hauck Theresa Hauck 1Anja Miriam Boos Anja Miriam Boos 1,3Annika Kengelbach-Weigand Annika Kengelbach-Weigand 1
  • 1 Laboratory for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
  • 2 Institute of Clinical Radiology, University Hospital Münster, Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
  • 3 Department of Plastic Surgery, Hand and Burn Surgery, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    In the field of plastic surgery, epidermal transplantation is a possible treatment for chronic wounds that creates only minor donor site morbidity. Improving the regenerative capacities of epidermal grafts or single cell suspensions and therefore accelerating healing processes would be of significant interest. In the present study, we analyzed the effect of growth factors and adipose-derived stem cells (ADSC) on keratinocyte properties. For optimum translation into the clinical setting, primary human keratinocytes and patient-matched ADSC were isolated and used in an in vitro wound model. Keratinocyte migration and viability increased after treatment with growth factors IGF-1 and KGF. A similar effect was observed by using concentrated ADSC conditioned medium (CM). It was further possible to isolate keratinocytes in a xenogenic-free medium which will be inevitable for clinical translation. Importantly, a patient-dependent influence on the effects of growth factors and ADSC CM could be observed. This study provides potential for improvement of epidermal transplantation for the treatment of chronic wounds using xenogenic-free isolated and cultivated keratinocytes, growth factors and ADSC. Transferring these results into the clinical application possibly will help to accelerate wound healing and shorten the time until patients can return to everyday life.

    Keywords: Keratinocytes, Wound Healing, growth factors, adipose-derived stem cells, conditioned medium

    Received: 23 Oct 2024; Accepted: 20 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Stadelmann, Horch, Schmid, Ostendorf, Peddi, Hauck, Boos and Kengelbach-Weigand. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Nina Stadelmann, Laboratory for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
    Raymund E. Horch, Laboratory for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.