Isolation of Ready-to-Use Adipose-Derived Stem Cell (ASC) Pellet for Clinical Applications and a Comparative Overview of Alternate Methods for ASC Isolation

Current literature does not offer a standardized method to isolate adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) for clinical applications and hence clinical studies using ASCs often show inconsistent results. Most of these studies borrow laboratory or benchside-derived protocols, which are complex, time consuming, and involve the use of chemical, animal-derived reagents. In this unit we describe a relatively simple and faster isolation protocol that allows collection of a ready-to-use ASC pellet for clinical application. All steps are performed in a closed circuit in order to guarantee maximum process sterility. Once the adipose tissue is harvested by means of a standard liposuction procedure, it undergoes a first centrifugation in order to remove the oil and serous fractions. Then ASCs are released by enzymatic digestion from the surrounding connective tissue scaffold. Finally a double series of washing and centrifugation allows one to obtain the ASC pellet alone. We usually graft this ASC pellet onto the skin edge and to the bottom of chronic skin ulcers as ASCs proved to be effective in promoting wound healing processes. Moreover, an increasing number of clinical studies are currently ongoing to test their potential in every medical field, from orthopedics to cardiology, oncology, autoimmune diseases, and tissue engineering. © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.