Basic Studies On The Plasticity Of Human Adipose Derived Stem Cells And Its Application In Adipose Tissue Engineering Ex Vivo

For cell-based tissue engineering, expansion and maintenance of cell remains a major obstacle in the fields of tissue engineering. Together with the potential of multilineage differentiation and extensive proliferation of adult stem cell, these characteristics may make it a promising source for the tissue engineering. Recent studies showed that adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs), although a relatively new addition to the growing list of adult stem cells sources, can differentiate into multiple lineages when placed in an appropriate environment. Human adipose tissue is plentiful, easily procured, and appropriate for autologous transplantation, so they could be an alternative and promising stem cell source for tissue engineering strategies in the future. We have investigated and characterized the biology and plasticity of hADSCs. As an important component of tissue engineering, the bioreactor system plays an important role in providing an optimized environment for cell growth, expansion and functional 3-D tissue development. To overcome the scarcity of cells expansion, we have explored the availability of large scale cultivation of hADSCs utilizing collagen-treated microbeads as carrier in a rotary cell culture system (RCCS), a commercially available bioreactor developed by NASA. Moreover, in present study, we examined the potential of polylactic/glycolic acid polymer (PLGA) non-woven meshes, poly (L-lactic acid) polymer (PLLA), and mixture of sodium alginate /gelatin as biodegradable scaffolds to develop a biohybrid construct as well as hADSCs for ex vivo adipose tissue engineering. It was showed that hADSCs possess high capacity for self-replication and multi-differentiate potential, and can be expanded in large scale in RCCS, in which hADSCs can maintain their phenotype and function. It also demonstrated that simulated microgravity culture of cell/scaffolds in RCCS may be beneficial to cell aggregation, formation of 3-dimensional architecture and construction of adipose tissue in vitro. This study would provide the proof of concept of adipose-derived stem cells-based therapy and tissue engineering for soft tissue repair or other clinical applications.