Technique for Obtaining Mesenchymal Stem Cell from Adipose Tissue and Stromal Vascular Fraction Characterization in Long-Term Cryopreservation

Summary

The present protocol describes an improved methodology for ADSC isolation resulting in a tremendous cellular yield with time gain compared to the literature. This study also provides a straightforward method for obtaining a relatively large number of viable cells after long-term cryopreservation.

Abstract

Human mesenchymal stem cells derived from adipose tissue have become increasingly attractive as they show appropriate features and are an accessible source for regenerative clinical applications. Different protocols have been used to obtain adipose-derived stem cells. This article describes different steps of an improved time-saving protocol to obtain a more significant amount of ADSC, showing how to cryopreserve and thaw ADSC to obtain viable cells for culture expansion. One hundred milliliters of lipoaspirate were collected, using a 26 cm three-hole and 3 mm caliber syringe liposuction, from the abdominal area of nine patients who subsequently underwent elective abdominoplasty. The stem cells isolation was carried out with a series of washes with Dulbecco's Phosphate Buffered Saline (DPBS) solution supplemented with calcium and the use of collagenase. Stromal Vascular Fraction (SVF) cells were cryopreserved, and their viability was checked by immunophenotyping. The SVF cellular yield was 15.7 x 10⁵ cells/mL, ranging between 6.1-26.2 cells/mL. Adherent SVF cells reached confluence after an average of 7.5 (±4.5) days, with an average cellular yield of 12.3 (± 5.7) x 10⁵ cells/mL. The viability of thawed SVF after 8 months, 1 year, and 2 years ranged between 23.06%-72.34% with an average of 47.7% (±24.64) with the lowest viability correlating with cases of two-year freezing. The use of DPBS solution supplemented with calcium and bag resting times for fat precipitation with a shorter time of collagenase digestion resulted in an increased stem cell final cellular yield. The detailed procedure for obtaining high yields of viable stem cells was more efficient regarding time and cellular yield than the techniques from previous studies. Even after a long period of cryopreservation, viable ADSC cells were found in the SVF.

Introduction

Human mesenchymal stem cells are advantageous in both basic and applied research. The use of this adult cell type overpasses ethical issues-compared to the use of embryonic or other cells-being one of the most promising areas of study in autologous tissue regeneration engineering and cell therapy¹, such as the neoplastic area, the treatment of degenerative diseases, and therapeutic applications in the reconstructive surgery area^2,3,4,5. It has been previously reported that there is an abundant source of mesenchymal mu....

Protocol

The present study is approved by the Ethics Committee of the UNIFESP (protocol number: 0029/2015 CAAE: 40846215.0.0000.5505), performed after obtaining written informed consent from the patients according to the Declaration of Helsinki (2004). The sample of the present study is composed of nine female patients, aged 33-50 years (average age 41.5) and average initial body mass index (BMI) of 24.54 (ranging between 22.32-26.77) (Table 1) who underwent aesthetic abdominoplasty due to excess of skin after pregnancies, at the Division of Plastic Surgery of the Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), Brazil. To reduce bias, the patients were selec....

Results

The characterization of the nine individuals studied, including their age, weight, height, and BMI, are shown in Table 1.

According to the cellular yield initially presented, the cell volume inoculated in culture was calculated to be as close as possible to the capacity of the 75 cm² culture flask. The sample volume seeded in each case is described in Table 2. Then, according to the initial cellular yield, a variable volume of cells for each sample .......

Discussion

Isolation yield
It is well established that the cryopreservation process, frequently required in cellular therapy, results in significant cell loss, sometimes greater than 50%^29,30,35. Thus, a technical improvement for obtaining high initial cellular yield in isolation is fundamental. The collecting method of lipoaspirate and the isolation method of the cells must focus on preserving a greater number of ce.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
1.8 mL cryovials	Nunc Thermo Fisher Scientific	340711
150 mL polyvinyl chloride transfer bag	JP FARMA	80146150059
2% Alizarin Red S Solution, pH 4.2	Sigma Aldrich	A5533
Adrenaline (1 mg/mL)	Hipolabor	NA
Alcian Blue solution	Sigma Aldrich	1,01,647
Antibiotic-Antimycotic 100x	Gibco	15240062
BD FACSCalibur Flow Cytometer using BD CellQues Pro Analysis	BD BioSciences	NA
Calcium chloride 10%	Merck	102379
Chlorhexidine gluconate 4%	VIC PHARMA	NA
Collagenase, Type I, powder	Gibco	17018029
DMEM (Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium)	Gibco	11966025
DPBS no calcium, no magnesium (Dulbecco's Phosphate Buffered Saline Gibco Cell Therapy Systems)	Gibco	A1285801
DPBS with calcium (Dulbecco's Phosphate Buffered Saline Gibco Cell Therapy Systems)	Gibco	A1285601
Fetal bovine serum	Gibco	10500056
Formaldehyde 4%	Sigma Aldrich	1,00,496
Inverted light microscope	Nikon Eclipse TS100	NA
Live and Dead Cell Assay	Thermofisher	01-3333-41 | 01-3333-42
Monoclonal antibody: CD105	BD BioSciences	745927
Monoclonal antibody: CD11B	BD BioSciences	746004
Monoclonal antibody: CD19	BD BioSciences	745907
Monoclonal antibody: CD34	BD BioSciences	747822
Monoclonal antibody: CD45	DAKO	M0701
Monoclonal antibody: CD73	BD BioSciences	746000
Monoclonal antibody: CD90	BD BioSciences	553011
Monoclonal antibody: HLA-DR	BD BioSciences	340827
Mr. Frosty Freezing Container	Thermo Fisher Scientific	5100-0001
PBS (phosphate buffered saline) 1x pH 7.4	Gibco	10010023
StemPro Adipogenesis Differentiation Kit	Gibco	A1007001
StemPro Chondrogenesis Differentiation Kit	Gibco	A1007101
StemPro Osteogenesis Differentiation Kit	Gibco	A1007201
Sterile connector with one spike with needle injection site	Origen Biomedical Connector, USA	NA	Code mark: IBS
Trypan blue solution 0.4%	Sigma Aldrich	93595
Trypsin-EDTA 0.25% 1x, phenol red	Gibco	25200056