Adipose-derived stem cells: Isolation and culturing

Abstract

The use of human adipose-derived stem cells (ASC) for research and clinical purposes has become increasingly common over the past years. The advantages of ASC over more traditional sources of adult stem cells such as bone marrow (BM) include it’s ready availability in most people, the ease of significant volume fat removal by liposuction and subsequently the large number of adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) able to be isolated from each harvest. This chapter provides clear, focused methods for the isolation of the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) from lipoaspirate, which contains the ASC. Methods for subsequent culture, passage and cryopreservation of ASC are given, to enable other researchers to work with this exciting resource.