Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Adipose tissue-derived stem cells possess self-renewal and multi-directional differentiation potential. In vitro it could be induced to different cells in specific differentiation medium, such as lipocytes, skeltogenous cells, cartilage cells, cardiac muscle cells, nerve cells and liver cells. These characteristics show that adipose tissue-derived stem cells possess favorable application prospect. 
OBJECTIVE: To understand the biological characteristics of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells, and to explore its clinical application in tissue engineering field.
METHODS: The databases of Elsevier (2000-01/2010-05) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (2000-01/2010-05) were searched with key words of “adipose tissue-derived stem cell, tissue engineering”. Literature search was limited to English and Chinese languages.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Adipose-derived stem cells could proliferate rapidly, and material was convenient to harvest. It could be obtained by itself, and also avoid immunological rejection. At present, there was no gold standard to identify adipose-derived stem cells, but investigators had observed in vitro cultured adipose-derived stem cells that had the specific surface labeling of mesenchymal stem cells using flow cytometry and immunohistochemical method. Adipose-derived stem cells could differentiate into adipocytes, osteocytes, chondrocytes, muscle cells, hematopoietic cells, liver cells and nerve cells. Tissue or organ defect disease, degenerative disease and hereditary disease can use tissue engineering technique to implant tissue-derived stem cells and stents into the bodies, which has been a research focus in clinic.