A promising way to enhance in vitro expansion of adipose-derived stem cells

Adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) are one of the most promising therapeutic cells for cell-based regenerative medicine. The applications include bone regeneration, cartilage repair, nerve regeneration, muscle and cardiac muscle repair, and liver regeneration. However, in vitro expansion is a crucial step before application. One of the most significant drawbacks of ASCs and all other mesenchymal stem cells is cellular aging during in vitro expansion. However, the extracellular matrix (ECM), which has a profound effect on cell function, offers a potential method to solve this problem. In this study, both ASCs and dermal fibroblasts (DFBs) were used to coat culture flasks with decellularized ECM (dECM). Then, ASCs were expanded on ASCs-derived dECM (AECM), DFBs-derived dECM (DECM), and conventional plastic flasks (PLs) for further proliferation and differentiation assays. Both the AECM and DECM could significantly facilitate proliferation of ASCs. ASCs expanded on AECM exhibited higher differentiation potential for osteogenesis, adipogenesis, and chondrogenesis than those expanded on DECM and PLs. The results demonstrate that AECM can successfully enhance the self-renewal and differentiation potential of ASCs, which could be a promising method for in vitro cell expansion in ASCs-based regenerative medicine.