One of the major challenges facing plastic and reconstructive surgery is a reliable source of autologous soft tissue such as fat. We investigated the in vitro pluripotency and in vivo survival of progenitor cells from post-natal human skin that were induced to form adipose tissue for tissue engineering applications. We isolated CD90 and CD105 positive mesenchymal progenitor cells from juvenile human foreskin through a sequential enzymatic digestion process. Their Stem cell character was shown by a high self-renewal capacity of over 100 population doublings, and their high clonogenic potential ( routine data from our laboratory for tissue engineering ). The cells were grown, expanded in vitro and seeded onto biodegradable polyglycolic acid (PGA) scaffolds in a dynamic procedure. Adipogenesis was induced in a defined medium containing, dexamethasone, insulin, 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, and indomethacin. The cell-seeded scaffolds were implanted subcutaneously into athymic mice. Their volume loss in vivo was measured continuously. They were retrieved at 4, 8, 12 weeks after implantation. The retrieved fatlike tissue stained positive for Oil-O-Red and adiponectin. It showed an upregulation of adipose specific markers (pparg2 and lipoprotein lipase) in vivo. The specific functional Leptin RIA test was positive for human Leptin. This is the first demonstration of the volume loss of post-natal dermal cells over many generation doublings, differentiating into adipocyte-like cells in vitro, attaching to PGA-polymers and forming a fatty tissue in vivo in a long term study.      «

One of the major challenges facing plastic and reconstructive surgery is a reliable source of autologous soft tissue such as fat. We investigated the in vitro pluripotency and in vivo survival of progenitor cells from post-natal human skin that were induced to form adipose tissue for tissue engineering applications. We isolated CD90 and CD105 positive mesenchymal progenitor cells from juvenile human foreskin through a sequential enzymatic digestion process. Their Stem cell character was shown...     »