抄録
The use of stem cells is promising for future cell-based therapies such as tissue regeneration and engineering. Although embryonic stem cells are theoretically beneficial, there are several potential limitations, such as cell regulations and ethical considerations. Mesenchymal stem cells isolated from bone marrow stroma have been shown to possess adipogenic, osteogenic, chondrogenic, myogenic, and neurogenic potential in vitro and in vivo. However, bone marrow procurement is so painful for donors that general anesthesia is often required. Moreover, the yield of harvested cells is low. A similar pluripotent cell population was isolated from human adipose tissue in 2001 and termed adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs). Since then, our laboratory has investigated the versatility of ASCs for regenerative medicine both in vitro and in vivo. We found that (1) ASCs were successfully induced to differentiate into neurogenic, angiogenic and cardiomyogenic lineages, as well as adipogenic, chondrogenic, osteogenic and myogenic lineages in vitro and (2) mature tissue, including fat, bone, cartilage, bone marrow, granulation tissue, and periodontal tissue, was regenerated in a murine model in vivo. Because human adipose tissue is plentiful, and easily harvested in large quantity under the local anesthesia with less discomfort for patients, it may be an alternative stem cell source for mesenchymal tissue regeneration and engineering. In this paper, our research about ASCs and future clinical applications are described.
