Soft Tissue Reconstruction

Autologous fat transplantation has revolutionized soft tissue reconstruction, but conventional methods remain unpredictable as graft resorption rates are high due to lack of vascularization. The advent of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) has led to improvement of fat grafting outcomes, in part to their ability to undergo facile differentiation into adipose tissue, their angiogenic properties, and their ability to express and secrete multiple growth factors. This chapter discusses the isolation and characterization of human ASCs, its expansion in vitro, and relevant in vivo models for adipose tissue engineering.