Tissue with high intelligence quotient: Adipose-derived stem cells in neural regeneration

The aim of the present review is to highlight the possible neuroregenerative potential of adipose-derived stem cells. The key property of stem cells is plasticity including self-renewal, multilineage differentiation, and migration, whereas the required property is transplantability. For a long time, embryonic stem cells were thought to be the only source of pluripotency, a dogma that has been challenged during the last decade. Today, an alternative option might be adipose-derived stem cells, as easily accessible, ethical and autologous cellular source. Recent knowledge of adipobiology increasingly recognizes that adipose tissue is the major endo- and paracrine organ of the human body. Likewise, numerous neuropetides, neurotrophic factors, neurotransmitters, hypothalamic and steroid hormones and their receptors are shared by adipose tissue and brain. Accordingly, the regenerative potential of neuroprotective factor-secreting adipose-derived stem cells is outlined. Whether the possible benefits of adipose stem cell-based therapy may be mediated via cell transdifferentiation and/or paracrine mechanisms remains to further be evaluated.