title: Treating fat grafts with human endothelial progenitor cells promotes their vascularization and improves their survival in diabetes mellitus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells are required for vascularization of a fat graft to form a functional microvasculature within the graft and to facilitate its integration into the surrounding tissues. Organ transplantation carries a high risk of graft loss and rejection in patients with diabetes mellitus because endothelial progenitor cell function is impaired. The authors investigated the influence of endothelial progenitor cell treatment on the phenotype and survival of human fat grafts in immunocompromised mice with experimentally induced diabetes mellitus.
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors injected 1 ml of human fat tissue into the scalps of 14 nondiabetic and 28 diabetic immunocompromised mice, and then treated some of the grafts with endothelial progenitor cells that was isolated from the blood of a human donor. The phenotype of the endothelial progenitor cell-treated fat grafts from the 14 diabetic mice was compared with that of the untreated fat grafts from 14 nondiabetic and 14 diabetic mice, 18 days and 15 weeks after fat transplantation. Determination of graft phenotype included measurements of weight and volume, vascular endothelial growth factor levels, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2, endothelial nitric oxide synthase, and caspase 3 expression levels, and histologic analysis of the extent of vascularization.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The untreated grafts from the diabetic mice were fully resorbed 15 weeks after fat transplantation. The phenotype of endothelial progenitor cell-treated fat grafts from the diabetic mice was similar to that of the untreated fat grafts from the nondiabetic mice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Endothelial progenitor cell treatment of transplanted fat can increase the survival of a fat graft by inducing its vascularization and decreasing the extent of apoptosis.
authors.affiliation: Haifa and Nazareth, Israel From the Skin Research Laboratory, Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology; Remedor Biomed Ltd.; and the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Rambam Health Care Campus.
authors.forename: Saher
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hamed
authors.forename: Ohad
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ben-Nun
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Egozi
authors.forename: Aviad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Keren
authors.forename: Nastya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Malyarova
authors.forename: Danny
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kruchevsky
authors.forename: Amos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gilhar
authors.forename: Yehuda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ullmann
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000637:transplantation*; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000276:immunology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D042783:Endothelial Cells; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000517:prevention & control; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000502:physiology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D012016:Reference Values; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D013234:Stem Cells; D013311:Streptozocin / Q000494:pharmacology; D014019:Tissue Donors; D016378:Tissue Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting
chemical_list: D013311:Streptozocin