The ASERF Scientific Research Committee and Board of Directors are pleased to announce the following grant award:

Researcher: J.Peter Rubin, MD

Grant Award: ASERF Interim Grant

Amount Awarded: $65,000

Project Name: Clinical Adipose Stem Cell Banking: Is young better?

Project Summary: The progressive decline in tissue mechanical strength that occurs with aging is hypothesized to be due to a loss of resident stem cell number and function. As such, there is concern regarding use of autologous adult stem cell therapy in older patients. To abrogate this, many patients elect to cryopreserve the adipose stromal-vascular fraction (SVF) of lipoaspirate, which contains resident adipose stem cells (ASC). However, it is not clear yet if there is any clinical benefit from banking cells at a younger age.

Objectives: We performed a comparative analysis of SVF composition and ASC function from cells obtained under GMP conditions from the same three patients with time gap of 7-12 years.

Methods: SVF, cryobanked under GMP conditions, was thawed and cell yield, viability, and cellular composition were assessed. In parallel, ASC proliferation and efficiency of tri-lineage differentiation were evaluated.

Results: The results showed no significant differences existed in cell yield and SVF subpopulation composition within the same patient between harvest procedures 7-12 years apart. Further, no change in proliferation rates of cultured ASCs was found, and expanded cells from all patients were capable of tri-lineage differentiation.

Conclusion: By harvesting fat from the same patient at two time points, we have shown that despite the natural human aging process, the prevalence and functional activity of ASCs, an adult mesenchymal stem cell, is highly preserved.