Considerations in the Choice of a Skin Donor Site for Harvesting Keratinocytes Containing a High Proportion of Stem Cells for Culture In Vitro

The study evaluated the impact of different anatomic sites on the quality of keratinocyte cultures for skin grafting in burn patients, focusing on the proportion of stem cells. It compared scalp, chest, and p-auricular skin, using Keratin 19 as a marker for stem cells. Results showed that p-auricular skin yielded about twice the proportion of K19-positive cells compared to the scalp in vitro, although scalp had more K19-positive cells in situ. Chest skin had the lowest stem cell content. The findings suggested that the choice of donor site and the ability to extract stem cells significantly influenced the quality of keratinocyte cultures.