Enhanced Expansion and Sustained Inductive Function of Skin-Derived Precursor Cells in Computer-Controlled Stirred Suspension Bioreactors

In the study from 2016, researchers found that using stirred-suspension bioreactors allowed for a fivefold increase in the expansion of viable skin-derived precursors (SKPs), which are stem cells from the dermis that can self-renew and have the potential to treat skin diseases or injuries, such as alopecia. These SKPs were capable of repopulating the dermal stem cell niche and inducing new hair follicle formation when transplanted into skin. They also maintained their bipotency, being able to reconstitute both the dermal papilla and connective tissue sheath. However, the efficiency of these processes was notably lower in SKPs expanded in bioreactors compared to those grown in static conditions. The conclusion of the study was that automated bioreactor processing could be a viable method to generate large numbers of autologous dermal stem cells while preserving their regenerative abilities.