{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T00:53:57Z","timestamp":1760057637394,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,17]],"date-time":"2025-02-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1739750400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Universit\u00e9 Laval Faculty of Medicine","award":["FDN-143213","PJT-180441"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["FDN-143213","PJT-180441"]}]},{"name":"Fondation du CHU de Qu\u00e9bec-Desjardins","award":["FDN-143213","PJT-180441"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["FDN-143213","PJT-180441"]}]},{"name":"Fonds de recherche du Qu\u00e9bec\u2014Sant\u00e9 (FRQS)","award":["FDN-143213","PJT-180441"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["FDN-143213","PJT-180441"]}]},{"name":"Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)","award":["FDN-143213","PJT-180441"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["FDN-143213","PJT-180441"]}]},{"name":"Fondation des Pompiers du Qu\u00e9bec pour les Grands Br\u00fbl\u00e9s","award":["FDN-143213","PJT-180441"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["FDN-143213","PJT-180441"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Burn patients treated with tissue-engineered skin substitutes (TESs) often experience pigmentation irregularities, including hypopigmentation and pigmentation spots. These issues are thought to stem from the reduced presence of melanocytes through dilution during TES manufacturing. To address this, we hypothesized that supplementing epithelial cell cultures\u2014primarily composed of keratinocytes but also containing melanocytes\u2014with Fibroblast Growth Factor-2 (FGF-2), a known promoter of melanocyte proliferation, could enhance melanocyte growth. This would potentially increase their numbers in TESs and improve pigmentation outcomes. Our findings indicate that FGF-2, at an optimal dose of 0.2 nM, effectively maintains melanocyte numbers in 2D cultures and epithelial cell cultures through the first passage. Importantly, this treatment does not interfere with keratinocyte proliferation or differentiation, nor does it affect TES integrity. However, FGF-2 supplementation alone did not increase the proportion of melanocytes in epithelial cultures beyond the first passage or in TESs. In summary, while FGF-2 supports melanocyte growth in culture, its addition alone was insufficient to significantly improve TES pigmentation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms26041704","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,17]],"date-time":"2025-02-17T04:40:25Z","timestamp":1739767225000},"page":"1704","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Effect of Fibroblast Growth Factor-2 on Melanocyte Proliferation in Tissue-Engineered Skin Substitutes"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"26","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0715-3854","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Karel","family":"Ferland","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The Tissue Engineering Laboratory (LOEX), Universit\u00e9 Laval\u2019s Research Center, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Universit\u00e9 Laval, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada"},{"name":"Regenerative Medicine Division, CHU de Qu\u00e9bec-Universit\u00e9 Laval Research Centre, Quebec, QC G1J 1Z4, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Brice","family":"Magne","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Tissue Engineering Laboratory (LOEX), Universit\u00e9 Laval\u2019s Research Center, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Universit\u00e9 Laval, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada"},{"name":"Regenerative Medicine Division, CHU de Qu\u00e9bec-Universit\u00e9 Laval Research Centre, Quebec, QC G1J 1Z4, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-5574-4177","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Henri","family":"De Koninck","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Tissue Engineering Laboratory (LOEX), Universit\u00e9 Laval\u2019s Research Center, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Universit\u00e9 Laval, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada"},{"name":"Regenerative Medicine Division, CHU de Qu\u00e9bec-Universit\u00e9 Laval Research Centre, Quebec, QC G1J 1Z4, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4298-4234","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Martin A.","family":"Barbier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Tissue Engineering Laboratory (LOEX), Universit\u00e9 Laval\u2019s Research Center, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Universit\u00e9 Laval, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada"},{"name":"Regenerative Medicine Division, CHU de Qu\u00e9bec-Universit\u00e9 Laval Research Centre, Quebec, QC G1J 1Z4, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Danielle","family":"Larouche","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Tissue Engineering Laboratory (LOEX), Universit\u00e9 Laval\u2019s Research Center, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Universit\u00e9 Laval, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada"},{"name":"Regenerative Medicine Division, CHU de Qu\u00e9bec-Universit\u00e9 Laval Research Centre, Quebec, QC G1J 1Z4, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8883-6491","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lucie","family":"Germain","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Tissue Engineering Laboratory (LOEX), Universit\u00e9 Laval\u2019s Research Center, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Universit\u00e9 Laval, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada"},{"name":"Regenerative Medicine Division, CHU de Qu\u00e9bec-Universit\u00e9 Laval Research Centre, Quebec, QC G1J 1Z4, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"128","DOI":"10.22203\/eCM.v036a10","article-title":"Autologous bilayered self-assembled skin substitutes (SASSs) as permanent grafts: A case series of 14 severely burned patients indicating clinical effectiveness","volume":"36","author":"Germain","year":"2018","journal-title":"Eur. 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