Isolation, Culturing, Characterization and Aging of Adipose Tissue-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells: A Brief Overview

The aim of this review was to describe the current state-of-the-art regarding isolation, characterization and aging of adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs). Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have recently received widespread attention because of their potential use in tissue-engineering applications. Various studies have indicated that MSCs with a fibroblast-like morphology migrate to the sites of injury and help to regenerate damaged tissue. Over the past few years, it has been recognized that fat is not only an energy supply, but also a rich source of multipotent stem cells that can be easily harvested, isolated and selected as compared with other tissues. ADSCs are particularly interesting because of their rapid proliferation and multidirectional differentiation potential.