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Velasquillo et al. Plast Aesthet Res 2020;7:31 Plastic and
DOI: 10.20517/2347-9264.2020.30 Aesthetic Research

Review Open Access

Stem cells and tissue engineering: an alternative
treatment for craniofacial congenital malformations

and articular degenerative diseases

Cristina Velasquillo , Antonio Madrazo-Ibarra , Claudia Gutiérrez-Gómez , Marcia Rosario Pérez-
1,*
1,*
1,2
Dosal , Yaaziel Melgarejo-Ramírez , Clemente Ibarra 4
3
1
1 Biotecnología, Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación LGII, Ciudad de México 14389, México.
2 Hospital General Dr. Manuel Gea González and Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación LGII, Ciudad de México 14080, México.
3 Médico Adscrito al Servicio de Cirugía Plástica, Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, Ciudad de México 04530, México.
4 Dirección General, Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación LGII, Ciudad de México 14389, México.
*These authors contributed equally to this work as first.
Correspondence to: Dr. Cristina Velasquillo, Biotecnología, Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación LGII. Ciudad de México
14389, México. E-mail: mvelasquillo@ciencias.unam.mx; and Dr. Clemente Ibarra, Dirección General, Instituto Nacional de
Rehabilitación LGII, Ciudad de México 14389, México. E-mail: clementeibarra@yahoo.com
How to cite this article: Velasquillo C, Madrazo-Ibarra A, Gutiérrez-Gómez C, Pérez-Dosal MR, Melgarejo-Ramírez Y, Ibarra C.
Stem cells and tissue engineering: an alternative treatment for craniofacial congenital malformations and articular degenerative
diseases. Plast Aesthet Res 2020;7:31. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2347-9264.2020.30
Received: 4 Mar 2020 First Decision: 15 May 2020 Revised: 2 Jun 2020 Accepted: 9 Jun 2020 Published: 24 Jun 2020

Science Editor: Yi-Lin Cao Copy Editor: Cai-Hong Wang Production Editor: Tian Zhang

Abstract
The life quality of patients with craniofacial malformations is severely affected by the physical disabilities caused
by the malformation itself, but also by being subjected to bullying, which leads to a series of relevant psychological
and societal effects that have an economic impact on the health sector. Orofacial clefts, notably cleft lip (CL),
cleft palate, and microtia, are the most common craniofacial birth defects in humans and represent a substantial
burden, both personal and societal. On the other hand, osteoarthritis is a widespread degenerative disease that
is becoming more common due to the extension of the human lifespan and to an increase in injuries in young
people as a result of their lifestyle. Advances in tissue engineering as a part of regenerative medicine offer new
hope to patients that can benefit from new tissue engineering therapies based on the supportive action of tailored
3D biomaterials and the synergic action of stem cells that can be driven to the process of bone and cartilage
regeneration. This review provides an update on recent considerations for stem cells and studies on the use
of advanced biomaterials and cell therapies for the regeneration of craniofacial congenital malformations and
articular degenerative diseases.

Keywords: Mesenchymal stromal cells, microtia, cartilage, cleft lip, cleft palate

© The Author(s) 2020. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,
and indicate if changes were made.

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