Mesenchymal Stem Cells Immortalized by hTERT and their Use in Models for Wound Healing and Angiogenesis

In this study, we characterize the functionality of an hTERT immortalized adipose tissue-derived MSC cell line (hTERT-MSC) and its use in two co-culturing applications: wound healing and angiogenesis. We confirmed that primary keratinocytes and an hTERT-immortalized keratinocyte cell line are able to fully differentiate into skin equivalents in an air-liquid interface 3-D culture model when co-cultured with hTERT-MSCs. We also established an in vitro angiogenesis co-culture model system using TeloHAEC-GFP and hTERT-MSCs. The model can form tubules in less than 7 days and responds effectively to VEGF stimulation and drug treatments. The co-culture models developed by using hTERT-MSCs in this report provide a more consistent and robust in vitro co-culture system for studying wound healing and vascular biology for drug screening and tissue engineering.