Human adipose-derived stromal cells efficiently support hematopoiesis in vitro and in vivo: a key step for therapeutic studies

Adipose-derived stromal cells (ADSCs) are close relatives of bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (BM-MSCs). The ease of access to subcutaneous fat pad and the abundance of stromal precursors make fat tissue an attractive source of stromal cells for clinicians. However, their ability to support hematopoietic stem cells in vitro and in vivo has not been established definitively. Thus, their usefulness in supporting hematopoietic stem cell engraftment is not as clear as with BM-MSCs. In this article, we show that human ADSCs, cultured with a good manufacturing practice medium, maintain in vitro human early and committed hematopoietic progenitors and support their complete differentiation toward myeloid and lymphoid lineages. Compared with BM-MSCs, ADSCs elicit a more precocious early progenitor formation and faster proliferation and differentiation of hematopoietic progenitors. Further, in vivo, when co-injected in NOD.Cg-Prkdc(scid) Il2(rgtm1Wjl)/SzJ (NSG) mice with a low number of human CD34(+) cells, ADSCs enabled the higher production of immature human hematopoietic progenitors and CD45(+) cells when compared with BM-MSCs. As a whole, our results indicate that human ADSCs, isolated and expanded under clinical-grade conditions, support hematopoiesis in vitro and in vivo and thus provide the rationale for their use in supporting hematopoietic reconstitution in clinical settings.