The Effects of Oral Mucosa-Derived Heterotopic Fibroblasts on Cutaneous Wound Healing

SUMMARY An intriguing observation that has recently found support through clinical and experimental studies is that wounds of the oral mucosa tend to display faster healing and result with less scarring when compared to skin. We aimed to investigate the potential of heterotopic oral mucosal fibroblasts in cutaneous wounds while determining the main differences between wounds conditioned with either oral mucosa or dermis-derived human fibroblasts. 48 nude mice were divided into four groups: Control, Sham, Dermal Fibroblast (DF) and Oral Fibroblast (OF). Fibroblasts were isolated, cultured and seeded onto fibrin scaffolds for transfer to full-thickness dorsal wounds. Cell viability, wound area, healing rate, vascularization, cellular proliferation, dermal thickness, collagen architecture and subtypes were evaluated. Both cell groups had a viability of 95% in fibrin gel prior to transfer. None of the wounds fully epithelialized at day 10 while all were epithelialized by day 21, resulting with scars of variable size and quality. Healing rate and scars were similar between the control and sham groups whereas fastest healing and least scarring were noted in the OF group. Dermal thickness was highest in the DF group which was also supported by highest levels of collagen types I and III. Proliferative cells and vascular density was highest in the OF group. Dermal fibroblasts result with healing through a thick dermal component while oral fibroblasts result with faster healing and less scarring through potentially priveleged angiogenic and regenerative gene expression.