How many of us have complained about their adipose tissue over the course of their lives? Denigrated and disguised as best you can, actually this fabric, commonly called "flab" or "fat", it is full of many surprises!
Adipose tissue is the largest energy reserve in our body. In addition to this, other functions such as the following are well known:
- Support and protection (constituting a sort of "scaffolding" for many organs and acting as a "shock absorber" against shocks);
- thermogenesis (regulating body temperature in response to low temperatures);
- Secretion of hormones (such as leptin, also involved in the stimulation of hunger).
About two thirds of the adipose tissue is made up of mature adipocytes (the typical cells of this tissue), while the remaining part consists of a vasculo-stromal component (blood vessels and surrounding connective tissue) which contains cells of various types and among these there are also mesenchymal stem cells called hASC (hhuman Adipose-derived Stromal Cthey). Mesenchymal stem cells are adult cells, undifferentiated and multipotent: they have not yet decided what "job" to do, but if you are well educated, they can specialize in different sectors. The hASC therefore, if properly trained, in vitro they can differentiate into bone tissue cells, cartilage, adipose, muscular, tendon, neural. Our meat is capable of great things!
Since the adipose tissue is easily accessible in our body and can be removed without complications for the patient and in the absence of painful symptoms, the hASCs contained therein are considered a good resource for regenerative medicine and tissue engineering.
So in short:
- Adipose tissue in the human body is abundant and can be easily taken with small biopsies or liposuction;
- In the adipose tissue there are hASC cells;
- In vitro hASC cells can be induced to differentiate into bone cells, cartilage, of the muscle, tendons and nervous system.
But the surprises of the meat do not end there!
A few years ago the ability of adipocytes to "dedifferentiate" was also discovered: adipocytes are mature cells, but subjected to in vitro culture they can revert to the state of non-specialized cells (dedifferenziate) capable of taking on different functions. Dedifferentiation is also detectable by following their morphological change: on the seventh day of culture the spherical mature adipocytes begin to lose their lipid content, assuming a more indented and flattened shape typical of mesenchymal stem cells.
It's a kind of recycling operation: fat cells in excess or discarded during surgery, they are subjected to culture and after dedifferentiation they can take on new life by differentiating into other cells such as those of bone for example, returning to be useful for tissue repair or for the treatment of some pathologies. These prodigious cells are called DFAT (Dedifferentiated Fat Cells).
There are therefore two populations of stem cells obtainable from adipose tissue: and hASC as DFAT. Research continues to work on these cells and in the future they can also be used in vivo in humans. But it's not wonderful?
Sources:
- M.Saler, L. Caliogna, L.Botta, F.Benazzo, F. Riva, G. Gastaldi. hASC and DFAT, Multipotent Stem Cells for Regenerative Medicine: A Comparison of Their Potential Differentiation In Vitro. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2017
- Medet Jumabay, Kristina I Boström. Dedifferentiated fat cells: A cell source for regenerative medicine. World Journal of Stem Cells. 2015
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