Tissue engineering. Part A
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Hypertrophic scar (HS) is a dermal fibroproliferative disease characterized by fibroblast over-proliferation, overproduction, and deposition of the extracellular matrix. Growing evidence demonstrated that adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) secrete a plethora of trophic and antifibrotic factors, which suppress inflammation and ameliorate fibrosis of different tissues. However, few studies investigate their effect on repressing HS activity. ⋯ This study demonstrated that coculture of HSFs with ASCs not only inhibited proliferation, migration, and contractility of HSFs but also decreased the expression levels of HSF-related or TGF-β1-induced molecules. Additionally, the antifibrotic effect on HSFs was likely mediated by the inhibition of multiple intracellular signaling. The results of this study suggest the therapeutic potential of ASCs for HS treatment, which is worth of further investigation.