Adipose-Derived Stem Cells for Nerve Repair: Hype or Reality?

Peripheral nerve injury is a relatively commonly occurring trauma which seriously compromises the quality of life for many individuals. There is a major need to devise new treatment strategies, and one possible approach is to develop cellular therapies to bioengineer new nerve tissue and/or modulate the endogenous regenerative mechanisms within the peripheral nervous system. In this short review we describe how stem cells isolated from adipose tissue could be a suitable element of this approach. We describe the possible mechanisms through which the stem cells might exert a positive influence on peripheral nerve regeneration. These include their ability to differentiate into cells resembling Schwann cells and their secretion of a plethora of neurotrophic growth factors. We also review the literature describing the effects of these cells when tested using in vivo peripheral nerve injury models. (C) 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel