Enhancement of wound healing by secretory factors of endothelial precursor cells derived from human embryonic stem cells

Background aimsStem cells have been shown to have a therapeutic effect in several ischemic animal models, including hindlimb ischemia and chronic wound. We examined the wound-healing effect of secretory factors released by human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived endothelial precursor cells (EPC) in cutaneous excisional wound models.MethodshESC-EPC were sorted by CD133/KDR, and endothelial characteristics were confirmed by reverse transcription (RT)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Matrigel assay and ac-LDL uptake. Conditioned medium (CM) of hESC-EPC was prepared, and concentrated hESC-EPC CM was applied in a mouse excisional wound model.ResultshESC-EPC CM accelerated wound healing and increased the tensile strength of wounds after topical treatment and subcutaneous injection. In addition, hESC-EPC CM treatment caused more rapid re-formation of granulation tissue and re-epithelialization of wounds compared with control vehicle medium and CB-EPC CM-treated wounds. In vitro, hESC-EPC CM significantly improved the proliferation and migration of dermal fibroblasts and epidermal keratinocytes. hESC-EPC CM also increased the extracellular matrix synthesis of fibroblasts. Analysis of hESC-EPC CM with a multiplex cytokine array system indicated that hESC-EPC secreted distinctively different cytokines and chemokines, such as epidermal growth factor (EGF), fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), fractalkine, granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, platelet-derived growth factor-AA (PDGF-AA) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which are well known to be important in normal angiogenesis and wound healing.ConclusionsThis study has demonstrated the wound-healing effect of hESC-EPC CM and characterized the spectrum of cytokines released by hESC-EPC that are functionally involved in the wound-healing process. These results suggest that secretory factors released from stem cells could be an important mediator of stem cell therapy in ischemic tissue diseases.