Mechanical Stretch Upregulates SDF-1α in Skin Tissue and Induces Migration of Circulating Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells into the Expanded Skin

In the 2013 study by Zhou et al., mechanical stretching of skin was found to significantly upregulate the chemokine SDF-1α, which in turn induced the migration of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into the expanded skin. Using a rat model, the researchers tracked the MSCs using luminescence imaging and discovered that about 19.42% of the transplanted MSCs migrated to the expanded skin by day 7. The MSC migration was shown to be dependent on the SDF-1α/CXCR4 pathway, as blocking this pathway with AMD3100 significantly reduced migration. The MSCs that migrated differentiated into various cell types, contributing to skin regeneration, with the expanded skin in the MSC group showing better proliferation and regeneration than the control group. The study suggests that targeting the SDF-1α/CXCR4 axis could enhance MSC-based regenerative treatments. The number of rats used in the study was not specified in the summary.