Evaluation of the Neovascularization Effect in the Dedifferentiated Fat Cell

Abstract

Although transplantation of mature adipocyte-derived dedifferentiated fat (DFAT) cells into ischemic tissue enhances angiogenesis and increases vascular flow, there is little information regarding how DFAT cells interact with vascular endothelial cells. We examined the effect of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-labeled DFAT cell or adiposederived stem cell (ASC) co-culture on proliferation and tube formation of vascular endothelial cells. In the co-culture system, we also examined the potential of DFAT cells or ASCs to differentiate into pericytes by immunocytochemistry and real-time RT-PCR. We found that DFAT cells and ASC co-culture promoted proliferation and tube formation of vascular endothelial cells to similar degrees. Expression of the pericyte markers, NG2 and PDGFR-β, in DFAT cells was increased significantly by co-culture with vascular endothelial cells. These findings suggest that DFAT cells are a useful cell source for therapeutic angiogenesis.