Cytori Therapeutics 1 article published in JoVE Biology Manual Isolation of Adipose-derived Stem Cells from Human Lipoaspirates Min Zhu1, Sepideh Heydarkhan-Hagvall2, Marc Hedrick1, Prosper Benhaim3,4, Patricia Zuk3,5 1Cytori Therapeutics Inc, 2Division of Cardiac Surgery, Department of Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 3Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 4Department of Orthopedic Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 5Regenerative Bioengineering and Repair Laboratory, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA In 2001, researchers at UCLA described the isolation of a population of adult stem cells, termed Adipose-derived Stem Cells or ASCs, from adipose tissue. This article outlines the isolation of ASCs from lipoaspirates using a manual, enzymatic digestion protocol using collagenase.