Stem cell therapy on skin: Mechanisms, recent advances and drug reviewing issues

Gong-Yau Chu; Yu-Fu Chen; Hsiao-Yun Chen; Ming-Hsiao Chan; Churn-Shiouh Gau; Shih-Ming Weng

doi:10.1016/j.jfda.2017.10.004

Stem cell therapy on skin: Mechanisms, recent advances and drug reviewing issues

J Food Drug Anal. 2018 Jan;26(1):14-20. doi: 10.1016/j.jfda.2017.10.004. Epub 2017 Nov 11.

Authors

Gong-Yau Chu^{1

2

3

4}, Yu-Fu Chen⁵, Hsiao-Yun Chen¹, Ming-Hsiao Chan¹, Churn-Shiouh Gau¹, Shih-Ming Weng^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Drug Evaluation, Taipei 11557, Taiwan.
² Department of Dermatology, Shin-Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, Taipei 11101, Taiwan.
³ Institute of Traditional Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Dermatology, Kang-Ning General Hospital, Taipei 11490, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Speech Language Pathology and Audiology, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taipei 11219, Taiwan.

Abstract

Stem cell products and its clinical applications have been widely discussed in recent years, particularly when the Japanese "induced pluripotent stem cells" founder Dr. Yamanaka was awarded as Nobel Prize laureate in 2013. For decades, major progresses have been achieved in the stem cell biology field, and more and more evidence showed that skin stem cells are involved in the process of skin repair. Stem/progenitor cells of the epidermis are recognized to play the most essential role in the tissue regeneration of skin. In this review, we first illustrated basic stem cell characteristics and various stem cell subtypes resided in the skin. Second, we provided several literatures to elucidate how stem/progenitor cells collaborate in the process of skin repair with the evidence from animal model studies and in vitro experiments. Third, we also introduced several examples of skin cell products on the pharmaceutic market and the ongoing clinical trials aiming for unmet medical difficulties of skin. Last but not least, we summarized general reviewing concerns and some disputatious issues on dermatological cell products. With this concise review, we hope to provide further beneficial suggestions for the development of more effective and safer dermatological stem/progenitor cell products in the future.

Keywords: Cell therapy; Dermatology; Drug reviewing.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy* / methods
Drug Development / legislation & jurisprudence
Drug Development / methods
Drug Development / standards
Humans
Regeneration
Regenerative Medicine
Skin / cytology*
Stem Cell Transplantation* / methods
Stem Cells / cytology*
Stem Cells / metabolism*
Wound Healing

Grants and funding

This study was supported by program grants from the Food and Drug Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taiwan, R.O.C. (Grant number: MOHW105-FDA-D-113-000442).