Differentiation potential and mRNA profiles of human dedifferentiated adipose cells and adipose-derived stem cells from young donors

Dedifferentiated adipose cells (DAs) and adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) are two of the primary types of stem cells derived from adipose tissue, which have been reported to possess similar characteristics, but also exhibit unique phenotypic and functional advantages. However, several reports have described inconsistent results regarding their differences in multilineage differentiation function. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, there are no studies assessing their myogenic ability, or the differences in the transcriptome between the two cell types derived from lipoaspirates via tumescent liposuction from the same donors. The aim of the present study was to compare the properties and expression profiles of these cell types. Subcutaneous adipose tissue of three female patients (aged 23–30 years) with a physiological BMI (19.1–23.9 kg/m(2)) were obtained during tumescent liposuction of the abdomen or the thigh. The stromal vascular fraction and mature adipocytes were obtained via collagenase digestion, and ADSCs and DAs were cultured successively. To determine the differences between DAs and ADSCs after 6–7 passages, cell proliferation assays, phenotypic assessment, differentiation assays and high-throughput RNA sequencing (seq) were used. Similar cell morphologies, proliferation dynamics, surface markers and transcriptome expression profiles were observed between the DAs and ADSCs. Whilst there were notable individual differences in the osteogenic, lipogenic, chondrogenic and myogenic abilities of the DAs and ADSCs, it was difficult to determine their differentiation potential based only on the cell source. Interestingly, the myogenic ability was relatively stronger in cells with relatively weaker lipogenic ability. Only 186 differentially expressed genes between the two groups were identified using RNAseq. Several of these genes were involved in biological functions such as transcription regulation, protein translation regulation, cytokine interactions and energy metabolism regulation. The results of the present study suggested a similar functional potential of DAs and ADSCs from young donors undergoing tumescent liposuction operation in regeneration areas and the balance of the differentiative ability of the same cell populations. These data may provide a foundation for further clinical administration of stem cells derived from adipose tissues in therapy.