The Paracrine Effect of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells Orchestrates Competition between Different Damaged Dermal Fibroblasts to Repair UVB-Induced Skin Aging

Feng Qin; Jiuzuo Huang; Wenchao Zhang; Mingzi Zhang; Zhenjiang Li; Loubin Si; Xiao Long; Xiaojun Wang

doi:10.1155/2020/8878370

The Paracrine Effect of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells Orchestrates Competition between Different Damaged Dermal Fibroblasts to Repair UVB-Induced Skin Aging

Stem Cells Int. 2020 Dec 17:2020:8878370. doi: 10.1155/2020/8878370. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Feng Qin¹, Jiuzuo Huang¹, Wenchao Zhang¹, Mingzi Zhang¹, Zhenjiang Li², Loubin Si¹, Xiao Long¹, Xiaojun Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Plastic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100032, China.
² Department of Vascular Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of the Medical School of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, China.

Abstract

Background: Human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) are the primary cells in skin and are associated with UVB-induced skin photoaging. Adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) have been proposed as a treatment for skin aging. The goal of this study was to investigate paracrine mechanisms by which ASCs repair HDFs damage from UVB exposure.

Methods: ASCs were cocultured with UVB-irradiated and nonirradiated HDFs. We compared HDF senescence, proliferation, migration, oxidative stress, and cytokine expression. In a nude mouse UVB-induced photoaging model, ASCs were injected subcutaneously, and skin samples were collected weekly between postoperative weeks 3 through 7. Histological analysis, PCR, ELISA, and immunohistochemistry were used to analyze the effect of ASCs.

Results: Compared with UVB-irradiated HDFs, nonirradiated HDFs showed higher proliferation and migration, reduced apoptosis, and fewer senescent cells when cocultured with ASCs. The expression of extracellular matrix-related cytokines was also regulated by ASCs. In addition, ASCs effectively reversed UVB-induced skin photoaging in vivo. We propose that ASCs more robustly coordinate healthy HDFs than UVB-damaged HDFs to repair aging skin.

Conclusions: ASCs improved the function of both UVB-damaged and healthy HDFs through paracrine effects. However, the impact of ASCs on healthy HDFs was greater than UVB-damaged HDFs. These findings help to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of the skin rejuvenation effect of ASCs.