Emerging Technologies in Scar Management: The Role of Allogeneic Cells

Abstract

Scars caused by burns, chronic ulcers from diabetes, infections, skin cancer surgery, and other genetic or somatic disease could require effective treatment to avoid functional and psychological troubles and even mortality. Most of the current treatments aim to reduce local inflammation but not to prevent scarring. Herein, we discussed about emerging technologies in scar management using allogeneic cell therapy. The industrialised allogeneic cell therapy products and the clinical trials using keratinocytes, fibroblasts or MSCs demonstrated acceleration of skin cell migration and proliferation, control wound scarring, immunomodulatory properties and improved angiogenesis. In addition, allogeneic cell transplants offered the possibility of large pre-fabrication, cryo-preservation, for instantaneous use and repeated applications. Current research exploring allogeneic cell therapies for scar treatment are focusing on grafting of epidermal sheets, cellular dermal substitutes and reconstructed skin equivalent and cell intradermal injections. Advances in knowledge in therapeutic potentials of allogeneic injected cells give rise to new therapeutic approaches such as administration of allogeneic cell-derived extracellular vesicles.