Potential therapeutic role of microvesicles derived from mesenchymal stem cells and platelet-rich plasma in murine burn wound healing: scar regulation and antioxidant mechanism

Background: Microvesicles (MVs) derived from mesenchymal stem cells exhibited an emerging promising therapy in many animal model diseases. Post-burn scars represent one of the significant challenges in wound healing processes. The present study investigated the possible role of MVs derived from mesenchymal stem cells versus platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in murine burn wound healing. Material and methods: Wistar rats (n=40) were assigned into four equal groups (control, burn, burn+ PRP, burn + MVs). Small-sized burns were induced, morphologically followed for three weeks, then rats were sacrificed and skin lesions were analyzed biochemically and immunohistochemically. Results: both MVs and PRP modulated the burn healing process with better results in the MVs group than in PRP. MVs significantly ( p <0.05) accelerated burn wound size healing and dramatically modulated tissue IL-10, IL-6, and hyaluronidase. Both MVs and PRP significantly downregulated gene expression of miRNA-203 & αSMA and immunoblotting analysis of MMP-3 and TGF-β compared with the burn group. The immune-staining intensity of TNF-α was dramatically reversed in the MVs group compared with the burn group, whereas that of CTGF, collagen I & III was significantly reduced in both groups. The antioxidant NrF2 immune-staining intensity had been dramatically enhanced particularly in MVs. Conclusions: MVs derived from mesenchymal stem cells and PRP may improve burn wound healing via regulating scar formation and antioxidant mechanism.