Stem Cells Derived From Fat Cells Could Make You Look Younger

Hate becoming fat and feel ashamed of having to carry the extra weight with you all the time? The good news is that one day in the foreseeable future, that paunch you hope to get rid of could be your cure for degenerative tissue by injury, disease or aging. 

For a long time, scientists have suspected that adipose tissue can be used to extract stem cells for the purpose of creating regenerative medicine. According to them, fat tissue has a lot of blood vessels, which is an important criterion for harvesting stem cells. 

In an unprecedented study conducted in Australia, scientists have figured out a way to harvest fat tissue from the human body and convert them to stem cells so that they can potentially be used to repair degenerating tissue in the body.

This idea came about when the scientists were curious about the way salamanders are able to regenerate their lost limbs so quickly. They spent some time studying the salamanders and found that the key to regenerate lost limb involves the activation of a multipotent skeletal muscle cells.

Multipotent cells lose their adult characteristics and can hypothetically repair any injury in the body. This is a great scientific breakthrough because there are currently no adult stem cells that can naturally regenerate multiple tissue types.

Scientists first remove human fat tissue through liposuction and they treat the extracted tissue with growth factor AZA for a few days. This is the key process where the fat cells go through a dedifferentiation process to revert them to a multipotent state.

After that, the multipotent cells will be kept with another growth factor called PDGF-AB to alter the hard-wired gene expression patterns to become iMS cells, which can then be used to repair any type of degenerative tissue in the body.

The initial stages of testing were conducted on animals and result have been encouraging. They have been able to successfully repair bones and muscles in mice. In addition, scientists found that the iMS cells were able to generate their own blood supply to carry nutrients to these developing tissues to keep them alive.

The scientists are still investigating the safety profile and regenerative potential of human-induced multipotent cells. According to the Australian scientists, they are making progress by injecting human-induced multipotent cells into their animal subjects. They are currently monitoring the development to see if there are any adverse effects. 

If this animal trial is successful with evidence of positive tissue regeneration in mice and the unwanted side effects, human trials can commence in less than a year from now.

Clinical applications

Degenerative disc disorder affects about 30 million people every year. Although it is a common degenerative medical problem that many old people face, it is an inconvenient problem that restricts the movement and mobility. It is caused by the breakdown of discs that separates the spine bones. As we age, the spine begins to degenerate, causing the discs to dry out and shrink. The degenerative process puts pressure on the spinal cord and nerves. 

The main motive of exploring harvesting stem cells from adipose tissue is to retain the flexibility of the spine and stabilize spinal implants to allow them to fuse with the adjacent bones better using this technology.

We hope that in the next 5 to 10 years, scientists are able to use the iMS cells for cosmetic applications to reverse signs of aging by stimulating the growth of skin cells and collagen, which are key to maintaining a youthful look. 

While we wait for the possible approval this treatment for the purpose of cosmetic application, we will have to stick to PDRN treatment, or commonly known by the brand name Rejuran Healer, to do its job.