PITTSBURGH, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Researchers met Tuesday in Pittsburgh seeking therapeutic ways of using stem cells taken from human fat.
The meeting, sponsored by the International Fat Applied Technology Society, is designed as a forum for scientists who want to use adipose tissue, or fat, derived from such procedures as liposuction and body contouring, as a way to obtain stem cells for research.
Using stem cells to treat disease or regenerate tissue is believed to hold promise because of the cells' potential to develop into different specialized cell types.
While ethical and legal issues now limit investigating the possible merits of embryonic stem cells, which are limited in supply, much focus has fallen on adult stem cells from bone marrow, peripheral blood and other sources, including fat, which offers a nearly unlimited source.
Researchers from the University of California Los Angeles and the University of Pittsburgh in 2001 first reported stem cells could be isolated from fat removed during liposuction. Since then, researchers have suggested fat-derived stem cells can be coaxed into new fat tissue, bone, cartilage, nerve, muscle and endothelial cells.
In animal studies, such cells showed potential for treatment of heart attack, stroke or bone injury.
