Proliferation and Differentiation Potential of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells Isolated from Dystrophin and Utrophin Knockout Mice

INTRODUCTION: Adipose tissue serves as a viable source of stem cells due to its relative ease of collection and availability in patients. We have previously isolated adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) from subcutaneous fat from C57BL mice and demonstrate their regeneration potential for musculoskeletal tissue (1). ADSCs hold potential in cell therapy for a variety of musculoskeletal injuries and diseases including Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). DMD is a progressive muscle disease where the muscle wasting is often replaced by fat and connective tissue also known as pseudohypertrophy (2). Various animal models have been used for DMD but the utrophin/dystrophin double knockout mice (dKO) emulates the phenotype seen in DMD patients and has been widely used to develop a therapies for DMD. Since we have shown that muscle derived stem cells (MDSCs) are defective in proliferation and fusion, which correlate with the muscle histopathology, the goal of this paper was to determine any potential defect in ADSCs.