Adipose-Derived Stem Cells Are More Potent Immunomodulators Than Those Derived from Bone Marrow

A recent paper revealed that stem cells derived from fat (adipose) tissue were more potent than those originating from bone marrow as modulators of the body’s immune system.

Considering that adipose tissue-derived stem cells (AT-SCs) are far more plentiful in the body than those found in bone marrow (BM-MSCs), the findings reported by investigators at the Leiden University Medical Center (The Netherlands) should prompt further research into the use of AT-SCs in personalized immunomodulatory therapy.

The investigators compared the immunomodulatory capacities of BM-MSCs and AT-MSCs derived from age-matched donors. They reported in the May 21, 2013, online edition of the journal STEM CELLS Translational Medicine that BM-MSCs and AT-MSCs shared a similar immunophenotype and capacity for in vitro multilineage differentiation.

BM-MSCs and AT-MSCs showed comparable immunomodulatory effects as they were both able to suppress proliferation of stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells and to inhibit differentiation of monocyte-derived immature dendritic cells. However, at equal cell numbers, the AT-MSCs showed more potent immunomodulatory effects in both assays as compared with BM-MSCs. Moreover, AT-MSCs showed a higher level of secretion of cytokines that have been implicated in the immunomodulatory modes of action of multipotent stromal cells, such as interleukin-6 and transforming growth factor-beta-1 (TGF-beta-1).

AT-MSCs displayed higher metabolic activity than BM-MSCs, which meant that lower numbers of AT-MSCs could evoke the same level of immunomodulation as higher numbers of BM-MSCs.