Tholpady S S, Katz A J, Ogle R C
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville, Virginia 22908, USA.
Anat Rec A Discov Mol Cell Evol Biol. 2003 May;272(1):398-402. doi: 10.1002/ar.a.10039.
Human subcutaneous fat-derived stem cells were recently shown to have the potential to differentiate in vitro into a variety of cell types, including adipocytes, osteoblasts, chondrocytes, and myoblasts (Zuk et al., Tissue Eng. 2001;7:211-228). Subcutaneous adipose tissue may therefore prove to be an easily acquired and abundant source of stem cells. Presently it is unclear whether mammals such as rats (which possess small or nonexistent subcutaneous fat pads) contain mesenchymal stem cells within the visceral fat of the abdominal cavity, or whether the visceral fat of any species contains stem cells. In this study we isolated and expanded a pool of mesenchymal cells from visceral fat of adult Sprague-Dawley rats and induced their differentiation in vitro into adipocytes, osteoblasts, neural cells, and chondrocytes. The differentiated phenotypes were verified by morphology as well as detection and expression of tissue-specific protein and mRNA. We conclude that despite well-documented differences in the metabolic and biochemical properties among anatomically distinct depots of fat, the visceral fat of rats contains adult mesenchymal stem cells with developmental potential similar to those isolated from subcutaneous fat in humans. Therefore, animals such as rats provide both a source of fat-derived stem cells and an immunocompetent, autologous host animal in which to investigate the capacity of the fat-derived cells to differentiate and form tissues in vivo.
最近研究表明，人类皮下脂肪来源的干细胞具有在体外分化为多种细胞类型的潜力，包括脂肪细胞、成骨细胞、软骨细胞和平滑肌细胞（祖克等人，《组织工程》，2001年；7:211 - 228）。因此，皮下脂肪组织可能是一种易于获取且丰富的干细胞来源。目前尚不清楚诸如大鼠（其皮下脂肪垫较小或不存在）等哺乳动物腹腔内脏脂肪中是否含有间充质干细胞，或者任何物种的内脏脂肪中是否含有干细胞。在本研究中，我们从成年Sprague - Dawley大鼠的内脏脂肪中分离并扩增了一批间充质细胞，并在体外诱导它们分化为脂肪细胞、成骨细胞、神经细胞和软骨细胞。通过形态学以及组织特异性蛋白质和mRNA的检测与表达来验证分化后的表型。我们得出结论，尽管解剖学上不同部位的脂肪在代谢和生化特性方面存在差异已得到充分证明，但大鼠的内脏脂肪含有成年间充质干细胞，其发育潜力与从人类皮下脂肪中分离出的干细胞相似。因此，诸如大鼠这样的动物既提供了脂肪来源干细胞，又提供了具有免疫活性的自体宿主动物，可用于研究脂肪来源细胞在体内分化和形成组织的能力。
