Ex vivo adipose tissue engineering by human marrow stromal cell seeded gelatin sponge

The limitation of current clinical treatment for restoration extended defects of soft tissue associated with trauma, tumor resections, and congenital deformities are well known. This study demonstrates that human bone marrow stromal cells (MSCs) can be utilized to tissue engineer adipose tissue for therapeutic purposes. Adipogenic potentials of monolayer-cultured human MSCs were evaluated by biochemical measurement of an adipogenic differentiation marker (glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, G-3-PDH) and cellular morphology. After preparation by seeding human MSCs on a 3-dimensional gelatin sponge and exposure to adipogenic differentiation medium, the ex vivo tissue-engineered adipose constructs were assessed histomorphologically and biochemically. Lipid droplets accumulated and expanded within the constructs accompanied by a significant increase of G-3-PDH activity. The present study indicates that bone MSCs could be a cell resource in tissue engineering adipose tissue, while gelatin sponge could be a good scaffold in this approach to improve the outcome of clinical treatment.