Mesenchymal stem/stromal cell secretomes generated in serum free conditions and on clinically relevant plasma polymerized membranes promote fibroblast wound healing activity

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) are known to secrete wound healing factors. However, the delivery of the MSCs and their secretomes remains a barrier to the development of a successful regenerative medicine. Therefore, we examined the content and paracrine activity of serum free MSC conditioned media (MSC CM) generated in routine tissue culture and when cultured on a plasma polymerized membrane previously used clinically in cell therapies for skin wounds. METHODS: Serum free MSC CM from murine and human MSC cultures were subjected to proteomic analysis by mass spectrometry and quantitative immunoassays and their paracrine effects were tested on dermal fibroblasts in vitro. RESULTS: MSC CM contained multiple wound healing factors, including extracellular matrix proteins and soluble factors. MSC CM harvested from flask cultures and plasma polymerized membrane cultures significantly increased dermal fibroblast adhesion, proliferation, and scratch wound closure (for mouse MSC CM) compared to control media. CONCLUSION: This study has: (i) shown that MSC secreted factors increased dermal fibroblast activities seen in wound healing; (ii) identified target factors potentially responsible for these paracrine effects; (iii) shown that MSC secretomes generated on a plasma polymerized membrane used in skin cell therapies also have wound healing paracrine effects.