Development and characterization of a poloxamer hydrogel composed of human mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs) for reepithelization of skin injuries Galocha-León, Cristina Antich Acedo, Cristina Voltes Martínez, Ana Marchal Corrales, Juan Antonio Mallandrich, Mireia Halbaut, L. Rodríguez Lagunas, M.J. Souto, Eliana B. Clares Naveros, Beatriz Gálvez Martín, P. Hydrogel Poloxamer Human mesenchymal stromal cells Wound healing is a natural physiological reaction to tissue injury. Hydrogels show attractive advantages in wound healing not only due to their biodegradability, biocompatibility and permeability but also because provide an excellent environment for cell migration and proliferation. The main objective of the present study was the design and characterization of a hydrogel loaded with human mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs) for use in would healing of superficial skin injures. Poloxamer 407® was used as biocompatible biomaterial to embed hMSCs. The developed hydrogel containing 20 % (w/w) of polymer resulted in the best formulation with respect to physical, mechanical, morphological and biological properties. Its high swelling capacity confirmed the hydrogel’s capacity to absorb wounds’ exudate. LIVE/DEAD® assay confirm that hMSCs remained viable for at least 48 h when loaded into the hydrogels. Adding increasing concentrations of hMSCs-loaded hydrogel to the epithelium did not affect keratinocytes’ viability and healing capacity and all wound area was closed in less than one day. Our study opens opportunities to exploit poloxamer hydrogels as cell carriers for the treatment of skin superficial wound. 2024-04-03T08:47:24Z 2024-04-03T08:47:24Z 2023 journal article International Journal of Pharmaceutics 647 (2023) 123535 [10.1016/j.ijpharm.2023.123535] https://hdl.handle.net/10481/90347 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2023.123535 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ open access Atribución 4.0 Internacional Elsevier