Exploring the Therapeutic Potential of Dedifferentiated Fat Progenitors (DFATs) in Comparison To the Adipose Derived Stem/Stromal Cells (ASCs).

Abstract

Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) therapy has undoubtedly become one of the most popular treatment methods used in tissue regeneration and bioengineering in both pre-clinical and clinical trials. MSCs-based therapy has been characterized to have several benefits, mainly supporting and accelerating tissue regeneration, but at the same time it is still subjected to certain risks. The ideal MSCs population that could be used for clinical purposes should be characterized by superior homogeneity, proper safety level, and great clinical efficacy with limited or no side effects. Recently discovered, dedifferentiated fat progenitors (DFATs) could be the perfect candidates for regenerative medicine. The growing number of studies indicates DFATs superior properties compared to widely used adipose derived stem/stromal cells (ASCs). Some potentially significant differences between ASCs and DFATs have been observed in the process of isolation, their surface marker expression, proliferation ability, differentiation capacity, and expression of pluripotency-related genes. DFATs have also been shown to pose some beneficial effects in animal studies, for instance, they might contribute to bone and cartilage repair, periodontal tissue regeneration, neovascularization, skin and fat grafting, nerve tissue recovery, and intestine restoration in vivo. However, most of the published reports do not compare DFATs function directly to the well-known and used ASCs. Already found differences are inconsistent and not evaluated. Despite the growing interest in the function of DFATs in recent years, the lack of comprehensive and comparative analyses with ASCs represents a significant gap in the current literature. Therefore, it seems reasonable to organize existing data and evaluate the therapeutic potential of DFATs in comparison to the widely used ASCs. In this review, we summarized the current reports considering DFATs therapeutic properties both in vitro and in vivo. To make a clear conclusion if DFATs should be considered more beneficial, we also focused on comparing their features to the already well-investigated function of ASCs.