Adipose tissue engineering based on mesenchymal stem cells and basic fibroblast growth factor in vitro

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Regenerative Medicine
• Tissue Engineering

Background:

• Adipose tissue engineering faces challenges in supplying sufficient engineered tissue equivalents.
• Current methods primarily use preadipocytes for in vitro fat tissue engineering.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a 3-D long-term cell culture system for adipose tissue engineering using bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs).
• To evaluate the effect of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on MSCs' adipogenic differentiation within a 3-D poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) scaffold.

Main Methods:

• Cultivation of MSCs on custom-made PLGA scaffolds in a 3-D system for 4 weeks.
• Treatment with bFGF to assess its impact on adipogenesis.
• Analysis using osmium tetroxide histology, scanning electron microscopy, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

Main Results:

• bFGF significantly enhanced adipogenic differentiation and tissue development of MSCs in 3-D culture.
• Increased lipid accumulation was observed, confirmed by elevated glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity.
• Upregulation of adipocyte-specific genes, including peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-gamma2 (PPARγ2) and glucose transporter-4 (GLUT4), was detected.

Conclusions:

• Bone marrow-derived MSCs are a viable alternative cell source for adipose tissue engineering.
• The combination of MSCs and bFGF in 3-D culture presents a promising strategy for developing adipose tissue equivalents.