Abstract
Cutaneous stem cells, gained great attention in the field of regenerative medicine as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of skin and hair disorders and various types of skin cancers. Cutaneous stem cells play a key role in several processes like the renovation of skin structures in the condition of homeostasis and after injuries, the hair follicle growth and the reconstruction and production of melanocytes. Thus, gaining effective access to skin stem cells for therapeutic interventions that often involve active molecules with non-favorable characteristics for skin absorption is a valuable achievement. The topical route with high patient compliance and several other benefits is gaining increasing importance in basic and applied research. However, the major obstacle for topical drug delivery is the effective barrier provided by skin against penetration of the vast majority of exogenous molecules. The research in this field is focusing more and more on new strategies to circumvent and pass this barrier effectively. In this article the existing approaches are discussed considering physical and chemical methods along with utilization of novel drug delivery systems to enhance penetration of drugs to the skin. In particular, attention has been paid to studies finalized to the delivery of molecules to cutaneous stem cells with the aim of transferring signals, modulating their metabolic program, inducing physiological modifications and stem cell gene therapy.
Highlights
Skin fulfills essential functions to the animal survival, it is composed of different and organized types of differentiated cells presenting various embryonic origins
Several studies have shown that both human hair follicle stem cells (HFSC) and dermal papilla cells (DPC) undergo changes following alopecia [30,31]
The manufacturing process is very important and influences delivery, and both a quick and slow release of the drug from solid lipid nanoparticle (SLN) can be achieved: the cosmetic or pharmaceutical active agent is dissolved in the melted lipid phase, which is dispersed by high speed stirring in an aqueous surfactant solution heated at the same temperature
Summary
Skin fulfills essential functions to the animal survival, it is composed of different and organized types of differentiated cells presenting various embryonic origins. Mutations in stem cell genetic material or any perturbation in the management of stem cell proliferation may represent the starting point of various types of skin cancer [6] These critical roles made them susceptible targets for therapeutic assets designed to treat human skin and hair disorders such as severe burns and wounds as well as skin cancers and alopecia and the effects of aging [7]. Transferring molecules through the skin performing dermal and transdermal delivery represents a relevant option, it is noninvasive and allows self-administration These two aspects lead to improved compliance and a considerable reduction in complications and side effects normally associated to injectable drugs making a topical route preferred to parenteral administration where practicable [8,9].
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