Adipose tissue engineering using mesenchymal stem cells attached to injectable PLGA spheres

The reconstruction of soft tissue defects remains a challenge in plastic and reconstructive surgery, and a real clinical need exists for an adequate solution. This study was undertaken in order to differentiate mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into adipocytes, and to then assess the possibility of constructing adipose tissue via the attachment of MSCs to injectable PLGA spheres. We also designed injectable PLGA spheres for scar-free transplantation. In this study, MSCs and adipo-MSCs (MSCs cultured in adipogenic medium for 7 days) were attached to PLGA spheres and cultured for 7 days, followed by injection into nude mice for 2 weeks. As a result, the difference between lipid accumulation in adipo-MSCs at 1 and 7 days was much higher in vitro than in the MSCs. Two weeks after injection, a massive amount of new tissue was formed in the APLGA group, whereas only a small amount was formed in the MPLGA group. We verified that the newly formed tissue originated from the injected MSCs via GFP testing, and confirmed that the created tissue was actual adipose tissue by oil red O staining and Western blot (PPARγ and C/EBPα were expressed only in APLGA groups). Therefore, this study presents an efficient model of adipose tissue engineering using MSCs and injectable PLGA spheres.