By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter



Skin cells enriched from stem cells are being sprayed on damaged skin to restore the epidermis.

A team of Korean scientists has developed a breakthrough technology to heal skin damage, such as burn injuries, by transplanting skin cells enriched from stem cells.
The team, headed by Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences researcher Son Young-sook, Tuesday revealed the medical technique of using stem cells to mass produce skin cells.

``We extracted skin stem cells from a burn patient’s epidermis, cultured them and increased their number by 200 times outside his body in two weeks. Then we transplanted them back to the patient and got a satisfactory result,’’ the 47-year-old Son said.

She added that the new therapy will be effective for many burn patients for whom the conventional way of transplanting their own skin cells for covering burns is not feasible.

Until now, doctors have resorted to autologous epidermal transplantation surgery for damaged skin replacement but that did not work for those without transplantable skin cells.

Another advantage of the new therapy is that it halves the number of surgeries required.

``In the past, we had to carry out two operations for a skin wound; first to implant collagen at the burned parts and again to transplant skin cells,’’ Son said.

``But this new method saves time and money because we can do the work in a single treatment by spraying cultured skin cells into collagen during the first collagen-infusion surgery.’’

Son predicted her team will be able to conduct a human clinical test with the stem cell technology late this year as the government is now reviewing the request for the trial.

She added that the secret of her team’s success lies in knowing how to extract stem cells intact from the basal layer of the epidermis, the outer skin that protects the inner cells called dermis.

``Our team increased the efficiency of isolating skin stem cells up to 10 times compared to U.S. research groups, who are arguably the most advanced so far in this technology,’’ Son said.

Son’s team has applied for international patents for their findings.

The fundamentals of the new treatment are the same as for those in adult stem cell research. The idea in stem cell research is to extract adult stem cells, increase their number and transplant them back into the body without causing a negative immune response.

Such attempts have rarely been successful because it is difficult to pinpoint and extract adult stem cells, which are very rare and brittle.

However, skin stem cells are relatively abundant as they need to replace skin cells that constantly wear off and they are also strong, two characteristics that Son’s team leveraged in its notable success.

voc200@koreatimes.co.kr