Mechanisms by Which Stem Cell Therapy Might Treat Skin Aging

There is some interest in the research community in targeting first generation stem cell therapies to the skin in order to reverse skin aging. These stem cell therapies use cells obtained from fat tissue or other well established sources, and in near all cases the transplanted cells near all die quite quickly following their introduction into the patient. Methods of cell production and sources of cells vary widely, and so do the observed benefits. Increased regeneration is widely claimed, but only intermittently proven. Benefits realized by patients largely derive from reductions in systemic inflammation and other effects on cell behavior resulting from the signaling provided briefly by the transplanted stem cells. Today's open access paper on stem cell therapy in the context of the treatment of photoaging in the skin is an interesting companion piece to a recent review and earlier report on the use of mesenchymal stem cells in aging skin. Treatment of skin aging is an field of medicine almost swamped by the nonsense put out by the "anti-aging" marketplace, but there is some evidence for treatment with stem cells to be helpful. Caveat emptor, of course. The Paracrine Effect of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells Orchestrates Competition between Different Damaged Dermal Fibroblasts to Repair UVB-Induced Skin Aging Human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) are the primary cell type in the dermis and are responsible for extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition and remodeling, ...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs