title: Sweat gland regeneration after burn injury: is stem cell therapy a new hope?
abstract: Stem cells are the seeds of tissue repair and regeneration and a promising source for novel therapies. The skin of patients with an extensive deep burn injury is repaired by a hypertrophic scar without regeneration of sweat glands and therefore loses the function of perspiration. Stem cell therapy provides the possibility of sweat gland regeneration. In particular, recent studies have reported the reprogramming of mesenchymal stromal cells into sweat gland-like (SGL) cells. We present an overview of recent researches into sweat gland regeneration with stem cells. Difficulties of sweat gland regeneration after deep burns have been elaborated. The advantage and disadvantage of several stem cell types in sweat gland regeneration have been discussed. Additionally, the possible mechanisms for reprogramming stem cells to SGL cells are summarized. A brief discussion on clinical application of stem cell-derived SGL cells is also presented. This review may possibly provide some implications for sweat gland regeneration.
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell and Tissue Regeneration Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital, General Hospital of PLA, Beijing, PR China. Electronic address: zcp666666@sohu.com.
authors.forename: Cuiping
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, General Hospital of Beijing Military Region, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell and Tissue Regeneration Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital, General Hospital of PLA, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaobing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fu
mesh_terms: D002056:Burns / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D065150:Cellular Reprogramming; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D006801:Humans; D012038:Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D013545:Sweat Glands / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: burn injury; regenerative medicine; reprogramming; stem cells; sweat glands