Why use Adipose Stem Cells for Liam

I will be posting information regarding stem cells and what it all means to be able to do this for Liam (if we even can). I know some people are wondering what it is, what it means, how it's done, if it's safe, etc... And why we need so much money.  I will try to answer all of that in the next few posts.


For now, here is a simple rundown on the type of stem cells (fat/adipose) we want to use.

What stem cell therapy from adipose (fat) stem cells is:
Adipose derived stem cell (ASC) is a somatic stem cell contained in fat tissue. ASCs are cells that abundantly exist in tissue, and therefore, they are ideal as a cell source in the field of regenerative medicine.


Adipose tissue yields a vast abundance of ASC's for transplant:
Compared to any other source, the vast amounts of adipose tissue (depots of fat for storing energy) especially in the abdominal region, by sheer volume of availability, ensure an abundance in numbers of ASCs ranging in the millions per unit volume. In addition, harvesting ASCs from adipose tissue through simple, minimally invasive liposuction under local anesthesia is relatively easier, painless and poses minimal risk to the patient compared to all other possible methods.

     *As long as Liam is chubby enough in his tummy area, we would use the fat from his abdomen.

Adipose tissue ASCs (AT-ASCs) are extremely similar to stem cells isolated from bone marrow (BMSCs). The similarities in profile between the two types of ASCs range from morphology to growth to transcriptional and cell surface phenotypes.Their similarity extends also to their developmental behavior both in vitro and in vivo. This has led to suggestions that adipose-derived stem cells are in fact a mesenchymal stem cell fraction present within adipose tissue.