The first
in vivo study that investigated the bone regenerative capacity of murine ADSCs seeded on apatite-coated, PLGA scaffolds was performed by Longaker's group [
63]. The authors found that, in both juvenile and adult mice, transplantation of non-transduced ADSCs produced large, yet comparable, amounts of new bone in calvarial bone defects when compared to bone marrow cells and osteoblasts [
63]. It was also shown that the transplanted ADSCs contributed to 84-99% of the new bone formation in the defect area [
63]. In the same year, a case report demonstrated that autologous fibrin glue loaded with ADSCs significantly promoted healing of a traumatic calvarial defect [
64]. Furthermore, it has been shown that the capacity of ADSCs to induce new bone formation is compromised by freezing and subsequent thawing the cells [
65]. In vitro studies revealed a significant negative impact of the freeze-thaw process on cell proliferation as well as osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation (*P < 0.01)[
65]. In vivo experiments showed near-complete healing in calvarial defects treated with fresh human adipose stem cells (hASCs), in contrast to minimal healing observed with freeze-thaw hASCs (*P < 0.01)[
65]. However, adding either recombinant insulin-like growth factor 1 (rIGF-1) or recombinant BMP-4 (rBMP-4) significantly offset the impaired osteogenic differentiation in frozen hASCs (*P < 0.01)[
65]. Kim Y et al investigated the bone regeneration potential of canine ADSCs and an ADSC osteogenic cell sheet (OCS), on a critical size radial 15 mm long segmental defect in a canine model using composite PCL/β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) scaffolds. The authors found that the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity of osteogenic ADSCs and OCS was significantly higher when compared to undifferentiated ADSCs . ALP, runt-related transcription factor 2(RUX2), osteopontin, and bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP7) mRNA levels were upregulated in osteogenic ADSCs and OCS when compared to undifferentiated ADSCs [
66].
In vivo, the study revealed that the combination of OCS with aPCL/β-TCP composite scaffold maximized new bone mass volume (28.11± 5.5 cm³) in canine radial defects, outperforming PCL/β-TCP alone or with undifferentiated ADSCs or osteogenic ADSCs. Though the defect was not completely healed in any of these groups, this study highlights the superior efficacy of OCS in conjunction with the composite scaffold for enhanced bone regeneration in critical-sized defects [
66]. Orbay H et al. conducted a study using ADSCs harvested from the inguinal fat pads of male Lewis rats, differentiating them toward endothelial and osteoblastic lineages before transplantation into critical-size calvarial defects. The rats (n=30) were randomized into four groups, utilizing hydroxyapatite/poly(lactide-co-glycolide) [HA-PLG] scaffolds alone or seeded with non-differentiated ADSCs, ADSCs derived endothelial cells, or ADSCs derived osteoblasts. Micro-CT analysis eight weeks post-operation revealed the highest bone mineral density in the ADSC group derived osteoblast group (1.46 ± 0.01 g/cm
3), followed by the ADSC derived endothelial cell group (1.43 ± 0.05 g/cm
3), scaffold only group (1.42 ± 0.05 g/cm
3), and non-differentiated ADSC group (1.3 ± 0.1 g/cm
3) [
67]. Although the osteogenic differentiated ADSC group exhibited the highest vascular density, the differences among the groups did not achieve statistical significance (P > 0.05), indicating that ADSC-derived endothelial cells and osteoblasts provided a limited increase in calvarial bone healing when combined with HA-PLG scaffolds [
67] Bernhard J et al. created tissue-engineered grafts using human ADSCs by differentiating them into hypertrophic chondrocytes in decellularized bone scaffolds and compared these to acellular scaffolds and grafts engineered using ADSC-derived osteoblasts. After implanting these grafts into critical size femoral defects in athymic rats for 12 weeks, the grafts engineered using hypertrophic chondrocytes recapitulated endochondral ossification [
68]. Highly enhanced bone deposition was associated with extensive bone remodeling and the formation of bone marrow, and with the presence of pro-regenerative M2 macrophages within the hypertrophic grafts[
68]. As a result, hypertrophic chondrocyte grafts bridged 7/8 defects, as compared to only 1/8 for osteoblast grafts and 3/8 acellular scaffolds. These results suggested that the ADSC-derived hypertrophic chondrocytes in osteogenic scaffolds can markedly improve long bone repair [
68]. Liu J et al. investigated rat allogeneic ADSCs combined with heterogeneous deproteinized bone (HDB) to repair segmental 4 mm radial defects in rats. The authors found that ADSCs-HDB with
in vitro pre-osteogenic differentiation group regenerated the radius defects in 8 weeks completely, the ADSCs-HDB group without pre-differentiation also promoted bone defect healing compared to the HDB scaffold and blank control groups, with the blank control group resulting in a non-union. These results indicate
in vitro pre-osteogenic differentiation of ADSCs is more effective to promote bone defect healing than undifferentiated ADSCs and represents an effective way for bone tissue engineering [
69]. In another study, hADSCs were seeded in 3D culture systems, using spheroids and polystyrene scaffolds to mimic the native stem cell niche. The spheroids, in particular, exhibited enhanced osteogenic differentiation, as evidenced by ALP activity and the upregulated expression of key osteogenic markers such as RUNX2, osterix, integrin-binding sialoprotein (IBSP) and osteocalcin, compared to both polystyrene scaffolds and traditional 2D culture [
70]. Zhang H et al. using a rabbit ADSC double cell sheet (DCS) and a composite scaffold made with polylysine (PLL)-modified coralline hydroxyapatite (CHA) with the aim of engineering vascularized bone to repair large radius bone defects in rabbits. The authors found that the DCS complex provided a very large cell reserve and formed abundant osteoblasts and vascular endothelial cells
in vitro [
68].
In vivo, at 12 weeks after surgery, the defect surface of the DCS-PLL-CHA group was completely wrapped by bone tissue and osteoids, the cortical bone was continuous, and the medullary cavity was perforated. A large amount of well-organized lamellar bone was formed, a small amount of undegraded CHA exhibited a linear pattern, and a significant amount of bone filling could be seen in the pores. Further, although the expression levels of BGLAP, SPP1 and VEGF were similar in each group, but PECAM1 expression was higher in the DCS-PLL-CHA group than in the autogenous bone group and the CHA group [
71]. ADSCs seeded with tricalcium phosphates (TCP) and a PLGA scaffold enhanced mandibular bone defects healing in mini-pig with a significantly high bone volume regenerated (34.8% ± 4.80%) than scaffolds implanted without cells (n = 6, 22.4% ± 9.85%) as revealed by micro-CT (p < 0.05). Moreover, an increased amount of osteocalcin deposition was found in the experimental group in comparison to the control group (27.98 ± 2.81% vs 17.10 ± 3.57%, p < 0.001) [
72].