Isolation and characterization of mesenchymal stem cells derived from adipose tissue

  Introduction: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a group of adult stem cells naturally found in the body. These cells were reported from many sources. Bone marrow and adipose tissue are two main sources of human MSCs. MSCs have attracted considerable attention in the fields of cell and gene therapy due to their intrinsic characteristics and ability to differentiate into multiple lineages.   Materials and Methods: In this study MSCs were isolated from adipose tissue and the harvested cells were characterized, using minimal criteria defined by International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT) for human MSCs.   Results: Adipose tissue derived MSCs (AD-MSCs) were adherent to plastic surface of culture flask. In the culture with defined differentiation condition, these cells differentiated to adipocyts and osteoblasts. Also immunophenotyping using flow cytometry showed CD90 (96.3%), CD73 (97.7%) positive and CD34 (0.99%), CD45 (0.34%), CD31 (0.41%) negative cells. Discussion: Adipose tissue due to its easy accessibility and less aggressiveness in compare to other organs, such as bone marrow, seems to be an ideal source for human MSCs. Besides, frequency of MSCs in adipose tissue is higher than bone marrow and adipose-MSCs can easily be isolated by tissue digestion. It is anticipated that adipose tissue would become a popular source for MSC studies in future.