Buccal fat pad as a novel source for Adipose-derived Stem Cells

Mesenchymal stem cells constitute an interesting tool in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. A rich source of these cells is the adipose tissue with its easy harvesting and abundant cells yield. Here, we suggest the buccal fat pad as a new interesting source for Adipose-derived Stem Cells (ASCs). In this study we isolated, characterized and compared ASCs from the subcutaneous interscapular region (ASC IS) and from the buccal fat pad (ASC BP) of three minipigs and three pigs. The cellular yield seemed to be influenced by the site of harvesting only for the pig were the quantity of cells isolated from the BP is reduced compared to that from IS. Anyway, regardless of the site of withdrawal, after a month of culture, both minipig ASCs and pig ASCs were able to produce at least 108 cells. Moreover the clonogenic ability of all these ASCs at early passages (I to IV) was quite high (about 19%) and stable. No differences were observed between the animal sources. Next, all the four types of cells cultured in the presence of osteogenic stimuli were able to differentiate respect to the control cells. At IV passage, for example, we observed a significant increase of collagen production (about 97% for ASCs IS and 290% for ASCs BP) and of extracellular calcified matrix deposition (about 159% for ASC IS and 117% for ASCs BP). Our in vitro results suggest that also ASCs isolated from BP could constitute a promising tool for tissue engineering and bone regeneration.