REVIEW article
Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Stem Cell Research
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Importance of Stem Cell Regeneration in Tissue Repair: Understanding Influences of the MicroenvironmentView all 6 articles
Advancements in Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy for Chronic Wounds: Challenges, Innovations, and Future Directions
Provisionally accepted
- The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
The management of chronic wounds remains challenging due to their complex pathophysiology, poor response to conventional therapies, and significant impact on patients' quality of life. mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have garnered attention as a potential treatment due to their regenerative and immunomodulatory properties. This review summarizes preclinical and clinical advancements in MSC-based therapies for chronic wound healing. MSCs promote tissue regeneration through various mechanisms, including differentiation into skin cell lineages, modulation of inflammation, angiogenesis, and paracrine release of bioactive factors. Current research focuses on identifying viable MSC sources, optimizing delivery methods, and understanding their mechanisms for clinical use. Despite progress, challenges remain, including inconsistent results, poor MSC survival in the wound microenvironment, and variability in regenerative capacity across MSC sources. Future research should focus on developing standardized guidelines for MSC preparation and conducting long-term randomized trials to assess safety, efficacy, and potential risks. In conclusion, this review highlights current evidence and identifies key challenges for the clinical application of MSCs in chronic wound healing.
Keywords: Angiogenesis, chronic wounds, Immune Modulation, Mesenchymal Stem Cells, paracrine signaling, Regenerative Medicine
Received: 22 Oct 2025; Accepted: 10 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tang, Su, Huang, Xu, Chen, Zhang and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: WuQuan Li
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.