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Ed. Note: The following is a press
release from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
PITTSBURGH, Oct. 5 – While questions still remain about the nature and
function of stem cells found in fat, a group of researchers and clinicians
convened today in Pittsburgh at the Second Annual Meeting of the
International Fat Applied Technology Society (IFATS) agreed that research
should move forward with the ultimate goal of performing human clinical
trials to test the cells' therapeutic potential for specific indications.
Today concludes scientific
sessions exploring how adipose tissue, or fat, can be an abundant source
of stem cells that could be used for tissue engineering and regenerative
medicine. An important outcome of the meeting was the development of a
consensus defining key scientific questions for future study and
determining the field's most promising clinical applications.
More than 300,000 liposuction
procedures are performed in the United States each year, producing about
150,000 gallons of fat that is normally discarded. In 2001, researchers
first reported that such tissue contained stem cells, and since then,
additional studies have suggested they can be coaxed into other cell
types, such as nerve, bone, muscle and blood vessels; or it may be that
they have properties of these cells. Some research has progressed more
rapidly, with animal studies indicating potential for the development of
treatments for heart attack or bone injury, for example, while results
looking at other uses are still quite preliminary.
There are currently no human
trials in the United States evaluating the potential of stem cells derived
from fat, but in reaching consensus on the most promising clinical
applications, those attending the IFATS meeting believe the first clinical
attempts in patients should be for repairing or healing bone defects,
promoting growth of blood vessels in tissues not receiving sufficient
blood supply, and for treating acute or chronic cardiac and peripheral
vascular diseases.
Moreover, the group felt the
best use of the technology should be to develop therapies using patients'
own cells, as opposed to cells that might be donated by other individuals.
Because adipose is both abundantly available and easily accessible, it
offers a practical source of stem cells.
A key question the group
answered was simply what to call the cells, with the decision in favor of
the term adipose-derived stem cells, even though it also was agreed that
these cells are most likely comprised of multiple cell populations – some
that are capable of proliferation and differentiation and other groups
consisting of mature cells. The society aims to develop common scientific
methods in order to best compare results between studies, and believes
that much of the research effort should be directed toward identifying the
protein markers for adipose stem cells in order to better understand how
they differentiate into other cell types and what factors they secrete.
In developing its consensus, the
society focused on three main areas, with separate sessions addressing
each. Leading discussions that addressed the biology of the cells was
Patricia Zuk, Ph.D., research director, Regenerative Bioengineering and
Repair Lab, at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of
California, Los Angeles. The session focusing on scientific methods was
led by Jeffrey Gimble, M.D., Ph.D., a professor at the Pennington
Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University. Discussions on
clinical applications and opportunities were moderated by Keith March,
M.D., Ph.D., director of the Indiana Center for Vascular Biology and
Medicine and professor of medicine at the Indiana University School of
Medicine.
IFATS, the only
interdisciplinary fat tissue society, is dedicated to facilitating the
development of new technology derived from and directed toward adipose
tissue. The society's current scientific areas of interest include
facilitating the development of treatments for excess body fat, generation
of new fat tissue for reconstruction after cancer or birth-related defects
and the use of adipose tissue as a source of stem cells that have the
potential to regenerate and repair different tissues in the body.
J. Peter Rubin, M.D., assistant
professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of
Pittsburgh School of Medicine, co-director of the Aesthetic Surgery Center
and director of the Life After Weight Loss Program at the University of
Pittsburgh Medical Center, is the society's current president. The
scientific program chair for the meeting was Adam Katz, M.D., assistant
professor of plastic surgery and director, Laboratory of Applied
Developmental Plasticity, at the University of Virginia School of
Medicine.
Contact: Lisa Rossi
RossiL@upmc.edu
phone: 412-647-3555
cell: 412-916-3315
fax: 412-624-3184
Alan Aldinger
AldiAL@upmc.edu
phone: 412-647-3555
cell:412-370-3887
fax: (412) 624-3184
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