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Mature adipocytes may be a source of stem cells for tissue engineering.

Fernyhough ME, Hausman GJ, Guan LL, Okine E, Moore SS, Dodson MV

Department of Animal Sciences, Washington State University, P.O. Box 646310, Pullman, WA 99164, USA.

Adipose tissue contains a large portion of stem cells. These cells appear morphologically like fibroblasts and are primarily derived from the stromal cell fraction. Mature (lipid-filled) adipocytes possess the ability to become proliferative cells and have been shown to produce progeny cells that possess the same morphological (fibroblast-like) appearance as the stem cells from the stromal fraction. A closer examination of mature adipocyte-derived progeny cells may prove to be an emerging area of growth/metabolic physiology that may modify present thinking about adipose tissue renewal capabilities. Knowledge of these cells may also prove beneficial in cell-based therapies for tissue repair, regeneration, or engineering.

Published 4 March 2008 in Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 368(3): 455-7.
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