Adipose tissue-derived stem cells and their application in bone and cartilage tissue engineering

摘要

The adipose tissue was considered a reserve of energy until the ’80s, when it was found that this tissue wasinvolved in the metabolism of sex steroids such as estrogens. From then on, the importance attributed to thistissue radically changed as it was then considered an active organ, involved in important functions of the humanbody. In 2001, for the first time, the existence of stem cells within this tissue was reported, and since then, thistissue has been gaining an increased importance as a stem cell source for a wide range of potential applicationsin cell therapies and=or tissue engineering and regenerative medicine strategies, mainly due to its wide availabilityand easy access. This manuscript provides an overview on adipose stem cells (i.e., adipose tissue–derivedstem cells, ASCs) considering the tissue of origin, the niche of the ASCs, and their phenotype in all aspects. Inthis paper it is also discussed the markers that have been used for the characterization of these cells, theirdifferentiation properties, and their immunological reactivity, reporting studies from 2001 until this date. TheASCs are also compared with bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs), until now considered as the gold standardsource of stem cells, underlining the common characteristics and the differences between the stem cells obtainedfrom these two sources, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of their potential use in different applications.Finally, this review will also focus on the potential application of ASCs in tissue engineering applications,particularly in the regeneration of bone and cartilage, commenting on the progress of this approach andfuture trends of the field.