Adult human subcutaneous adipose tissue contains cells with intriguing multilineage developmental plasticity, much like marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Putative stem or progenitor cells from fat have been given many different names in the literature, reflecting an early and evolving consensus regarding their phenotypic characterization. The study reported here used microarrays to evaluate over 170 genes relating to angiogenesis and extracellular matrix in undifferentiated, early-passage human adipose-derived adherent stromal (hADAS) cells isolated from three separate donors. The hADAS populations unanimously transcribed 66% of the screened genes, and 83% were transcribed by at least two of the three populations. The most highly transcribed genes relate to functional groupings such as cell adhesion, matrix proteins, growth factors and receptors, and proteases. The transcriptome of hADAS cells demonstrated by this work reveals many similarities to published profiles of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs).In addition, flow analysis of over 24 hADAS cell surface proteins (n = 7 donors) both confirms and expands on the existing literature and reveals strong intergroup correlation, despite an inconsistent nomenclature and the lack of standardized protocols for cell isolation and culture. Finally, based on flow analysis and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction studies, our results suggest that hADAS cells do not express several proteins that are implicated as markers of "stemness" in other stem cell populations, including telomerase, CD133, and the membrane transporter ABCG2. Stem Cells 2005;23:412-423

Human adipose-derived stromal cells (ASCs) have been shown to possess therapeutic potential in a variety of settings, including cutaneous wound healing; however, it is unknown whether the regenerative properties of this cell type can be applied to diabetic ulcers. ASCs collected from elective surgical procedures were used to treat fullthickness dermal wounds in leptin receptor-deficient (db=db) mice. Cells were delivered either as multicellular aggregates or as cell suspensions to determine the impact of cell formulation and delivery methods on biological activity and in vivo therapeutic effect. After treatment with ASCs that were formulated as multicellular aggregates, diabetic wounds experienced a significant increase in the rate of wound closure compared to wounds treated with an equal number of ASCs delivered in suspension. Analysis of culture supernatant and gene arrays indicated that ASCs formulated as three-dimensional aggregates produce significantly more extracellular matrix proteins (e.g., tenascin C, collagen VI a3, and fibronectin) and secreted soluble factors (e.g., hepatocyte growth factor, matrix metalloproteinase-2, and matrix metalloproteinase-14) compared to monolayer culture. From these results, it is clear that cell culture, formulation, and delivery method have a large impact on the in vitro and in vivo biology of ASCs.

A growing body of literature suggests that human adiposederived stromal cells (hASCs) possess developmental plasticity both in vitro and in vivo, and might represent a viable cell source for therapeutic angiogenesis and tissue engineering. We investigate their phenotypic similarity to perivascular cell types, ability to contribute to in vivo microvascular remodeling, and ability to modulate vascular stability. We evaluated hASC surface expression of vascular and stem/ progenitor cell markers in vitro, as well as any effects of platelet-derived growth factor B chain (PDGF-BB) and vascular endothelial growth factor 165 on in vitro hASC migration. To ascertain in vivo behavior of hASCs in an angiogenic environment, hASCs were isolated, expanded in culture, labeled with a fluorescent marker, and injected into adult nude rat mesenteries that were stimulated to undergo microvascular remodeling. Ten, 30, and 60 days after injection, tissues from anesthetized animals were harvested and processed with immunohistochemical techniques to determine hASC quantity, positional fate in relation to microvessels, and expression of endothelial and perivascular cell markers. After 60 days, 29% of hASCs exhibited perivascular morphologies compared with 11% of injected human lung fibroblasts. hASCs exhibiting perivascular morphologies also expressed markers characteristic of vascular pericytes: smooth muscle ␣-actin (10%) and neuron-glia antigen 2 (8%). In tissues treated with hASCs, vascular density was significantly increased over age-matched controls lacking hASCs. This study demonstrates that hASCs express pericyte lineage markers in vivo and in vitro, exhibit increased migration in response to PDGF-BB in vitro, exhibit perivascular morphology when injected in vivo, and contribute to increases in microvascular density during angiogenesis by migrating toward vessels. STEM CELLS

Anulus fibrosus cells isolated from nondegenerative intervertebral discs can differentiate into adipocytes, osteoblasts, chondrocytes, neurons, and endothelial cells in vitro.

Adipose Derived Stromal/Stem Cells (ASCs) have been gaining recognition as extremely versatile cell source in tissue engineering. The usefulness of ASCs in biofabrication is further enhanced by our demonstration of unique properties of these cells when they are cultured as three dimensional cellular aggregates or spheroids. As described herein, three-dimensional formulations or self-assembling ASC spheroids develop their own extracellular matrix that serves to increase the robustness of the cells to mechanical stresses. The composition of the extracellular matrix can be altered based on the external environment of the spheroids and these constructs can be grown in a reproducible manner and to a consistent size. The spheroid formulation helps preserve the viability and developmental plasticity of ASCs even in defined, serum-free media conditions. For the first time, we show that multiple generations of adherent ASCs produced from these spheroids retain their developmental plasticity and their ability to differentiate into multiple cell/tissue types. These demonstrated properties support the fact that culture expanded ASCs are an excellent candidate cellular material for “organ printing” – the approach of developing complex tissue structures from a standardized cell “ink” or cell formulation.