Role of Cultured Skin Fibroblasts in Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery

The skin is the largest tissue of man with several functions. Cosmetics/cosmeceuticals agents always are needed to be evaluated for their detrimental effects on the skin. Nowadays, the therapeutic potential of stem cells has and fibroblasts have increased the hope for a successful cell therapy in aesthetic medicine. Stem cells are unspecialized cells capable of renewing themselves through cell division without limit as long as the person is still alive. Each new cell has the potential either to remain a stem cell or become another type of cell. In a healthy individual, skin integrity is supported by epidermal stem cells that self-renew and generate daughter cells undergoing terminal differentiation. In addition to accumulation of senescence markers in aged skin, epidermal stem cells are maintained at normal levels throughout life. So, skin ageing is provided by an impair in stem cell mobilization or a reduction in the number of stem cells being capable to respond to proliferative signals. The self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation of skin stem cells make these cells attractive for ageing process studies but also for regenerative medicine, tissue repair, gene therapy and cell-based therapy with autologous adult stem cells. Healing in skin wound demonstrates an extraordinary mechanism of cascading cellular functions. Migration of fibroblasts along with the fibrin network and start of reepithelialization from the wound edges, angiogenesis and neovascularization get activated by capillary sprouting. Sakrak et al. (2012) noted that cultured fibroblasts, particularly with a dermal support, contribute to the wound healing process; reduce the contraction of the wound; and support collagen synthesis and neovascularization. Many potential mechanisms exist to impair healing. One contributory mechanism may be inhibition of fibroblast proliferation and induction of a stress-induced premature senescence phenotype by the continuing inflammation found in chronic wounds. They showed that recognition of the role of fibroblast senescence in wound chronicity may allow for identification of those wounds that will respond positively to these products. Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSC) were shown to have relative advantages in accessibility and abundance compared to other kinds of stem cells in treatment of many dermatologic diseases. Subcutaneous injection of ADSC could significantly increase the collagen synthesis in hairless mice, and dermal thickness, collagen density and fibroblast number, angiogenesis, procollagen type I protein and mRNA expression Editorial