Published online Dec 26, 2022. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v14.i12.851
Peer-review started: September 11, 2022
First decision: October 20, 2022
Revised: October 29, 2022
Accepted: December 6, 2022
Article in press: December 6, 2022
Published online: December 26, 2022
Processing time: 100 Days and 23.1 Hours
Low cell survival after transplantation has emerged as the biggest challenge of stem cell-based therapies for ischemic stroke in the clinical setting. Thus, biomaterials have been explored as a potential approach to provide a supportable cellular microenvironment or functional modification on the stem cells to optimize their reparative roles in injured tissues or organs.
Ischemic stroke remains a significant health issue globally. Stem/progenitor cells as regenerative treatment for stroke is practicable and beneficial for stroke patients, especially those in the chronic phase who could not be cured by any other means of currently available treatments.
This systematic review aimed to collect and present the current knowledge on state-of-art functional biomaterials that have been developed to enhance the therapeutic potential of stem cell-based treatments for ischemic stroke and to provide detailed insights of the mechanisms underlying these biomaterial-based approaches.
Publications indexed in the PubMed, Science Direct and Scopus literature databases were searched using the keywords “biomaterial” AND “ischemic stroke” AND “stem cells” OR “progenitor cells” OR “undifferentiated cells” to identify topically-relevant articles published in English during the years of 2011 to 2022. The systematic search was conducted up to September 30, 2022.
Ultimately, 19 types of biomaterials were identified that modify seven major stem/progenitor cell types to enhance their therapeutic potential for ischemic stroke.
Biomaterials can modify stem cells to enhance their migration capacity to a targeted area of injury, increase their retention rate, promote the secretion of important cytokines to support a reparative mechanism, and provide clearer understanding of the fate of transplanted cells via in vivo tracking. Biomaterials can enhance stem cell-based therapy for ischemic stroke.
It is crucial to study and define the mechanisms of state-of-art functional biomaterial-based approaches to maximize the therapeutic potential of stem cell-based treatments for ischemic stroke. Findings from future in-depth clinical investigations are expected to support the translation of this therapy into clinical application. Meta-analyses can be performed to generate a quantitative estimate of the effectiveness of the intervention.