Human Adipose Mesenchymal Stromal/Stem Cells Improve Fat Transplantation Performance

• Published in: Cells (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 11; no. 18; p. 2799
• Main Authors: Piccinno, Maria Serena, Petrachi, Tiziana, Pignatti, Marco, Murgia, Alba, Grisendi, Giulia, Candini, Olivia, Resca, Elisa, Bergamini, Valentina, Ganzerli, Francesco, Portone, Alberto, Mastrolia, Ilenia, Chiavelli, Chiara, Castelli, Ilaria, Bernabei, Daniela, Tagliazucchi, Mara, Bonetti, Elisa, Lolli, Francesca, De Santis, Giorgio, Dominici, Massimo, Veronesi, Elena
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.09.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Abdomen; Acids; Adipocytes; adipogenesis; adipose stem cells; Adipose tissue; Adipose tissues; Autografts; Cell differentiation; Green fluorescent protein; Health aspects; Inflammation; Liposuction; Mesenchymal stem cells; mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs); Mesenchyme; Methods; Progenitor cells; Proteins; Reconstructive surgery; Stem cell transplantation; Stem cells; Tissue engineering; Transplantation of organs, tissues, etc; Transplants & implants; Xenografts; Italy; United States > US; Germany
• ISSN: 2073-4409; 2073-4409
• DOI: 10.3390/cells11182799

The resorption rate of autologous fat transfer (AFT) is 40–60% of the implanted tissue, requiring new surgical strategies for tissue reconstruction. We previously demonstrated in a rabbit model that AFT may be empowered by adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (AD-MSCs), which improve graft persistence by exerting proangiogenic/anti-inflammatory effects. However, their fate after implantation requires more investigation. We report a xenograft model of adipose tissue engineering in which NOD/SCID mice underwent AFT with/without human autologous AD-MSCs and were monitored for 180 days (d). The effect of AD-MSCs on AFT grafting was also monitored by evaluating the expression of CD31 and F4/80 markers. Green fluorescent protein-positive AD-MSCs (AD-MSC-GFP) were detected in fibroblastoid cells 7 days after transplantation and in mature adipocytes at 60 days, indicating both persistence and differentiation of the implanted cells. This evidence also correlated with the persistence of a higher graft weight in AFT-AD-MSC compared to AFT alone treated mice. An observation up to 180 d revealed a lower resorption rate and reduced lipidic cyst formation in the AFT-AD-MSC group, suggesting a long-term action of AD-MSCs in support of AFT performance and an anti-inflammatory/proangiogenic activity. Together, these data indicate the protective role of adipose progenitors in autologous AFT tissue resorption.