The Use of Adipose Stem Cells in Cranial Facial Surgery

Abstract

Craniofacial malformations, have devastating psychosocial implications for many adults and children and causes huge socioeconomic burden. Currently craniofacial defects require soft tissue transfer, bone grafting techniques or difficult procedures such as microvascular free flaps. Such tissues are often limited in quantity, their harvest causes secondary large donor site defects and they lack the capability to fully restore previous form and function. Stem cell technology is being utilised for various tissue and organs of the body and consequently surgeons are eager to transfer these principles for craniofacial surgery. Adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) are an exciting stem cell source for craniofacial surgeons due to their easy and painless isolation, relatively large abundance and familiarity with the harvesting procedure. ADSCs also have multiple desirable properties including adipogenic, osteogenic and chondrogenic potential, enhancement of angiogenesis and immunodulatory function. Due to these advantageous characteristics, ASDCs have been explored to repair craniofacial bone, soft tissue and cartilage. The desirable characteristics of ADSCs for craniofacial surgical applications will be explained. We report the experimental and clinical studies that have explored the use of ADSCs for bone, cartilage and soft tissue craniofacial defects. We conclude by establishing the key questions that are preventing the clinical application of ADSCs for craniofacial surgery.

Human Fat-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Xenogenically Implanted in a Rat Model Show Enhanced New Bone Formation in Maxillary Alveolar Tooth Defects

“…Relative to bone marrow, the adipose tissue is a commonly used source of MSCs for oral/maxillofacial surgeons in bone tissue engineering [24]. The stromal vascular fraction of the adipose tissue is one of the commonly used sources of MSCs, and hence, an important tissue to regenerative medicine scientists and researchers [7,25].…”

Decellularized human amniotic membrane: how viable is it as a delivery system for human adipose tissue‐derived stromal cells?

“…Clinically, human adipose-derived stromal cells (hADSC) are often the choice of cell source for transplantation, in cell-based therapy, such as burn wound healing (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). In addition, several studies have demonstrated that growth factors secreted by such cells are involved in angiogenesis and injury healing (18)(19)(20)(21)(22), yet a 3D scaffold for expansion and delivery of such cells is still considered to be a largely unmet clinical need.…”

Evaluation of the efficacy of lipotransfer to manage radiation‐induced fibrosis and volume defects in head and neck oncology

“…[3][4][5] The current available treatments for RIF are limited and demanding including pharmacotherapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and laser therapy. [16][17][18] These adult derived stem cells have the ability to self populate and differentiate into multiple cell types including the bone, cartilage, and adipose tissue. [3][4][5] Autologous fat transfer or lipotransfer for the restoration of soft tissue defects and scar reversal is a commonly utilized reconstructive and cosmetic surgical technique.…”

“…[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Lipotransfer has also populating the regenerative medicine literature as it has shown to contain an adult stem cell population, known as adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs). [16][17][18] These adult derived stem cells have the ability to self populate and differentiate into multiple cell types including the bone, cartilage, and adipose tissue. Although the mechanism by which the lipotransfer reverses the fibrosis is unclear, current research is focusing on establishing the effect of the ADSCs within the lipotransfer on several fibrotic conditions.…”