Infrapatellar Fat Pad Stem Cells Responsiveness to Microenvironment in Osteoarthritis: From Morphology to Function

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Recently, infrapatellar fat pad (IFP) has been considered as a source of stem cells for cartilage regeneration in osteoarthritis (OA) due to their ability for differentiation into chondrocytes. However, stressful conditions, like that related to OA, may induce a pathogenic reprograming. The aim of this study was to characterize the structural and functional properties of a new population of stem cells isolated from osteoarthritic infrapatellar fat pad (OA-IFP). Nine OA patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) were enrolled in this study [median age = 74 years, interquartile range (IQR) = 78.25-67.7; median body mass index = 29.4 Kg/m 2 , IQR = 31.7-27.4]. OA-IFP stem cells were isolated and characterized for morphology, stemness, metabolic profile and multi-differentiative potential by transmission electron microscopy, flow cytometric analysis, gene expression study and cytochemistry. OA-IFP stem cells displayed a spindle-like morphology, self-renewal potential and responsiveness (CD44, CD105, VEGFR2, FGFR2, IL1R, and IL6R) to microenvironmental stimuli. Characterized by high grade of stemness ( STAT3 , NOTCH1, c-Myc , OCT-4, KLF4 , and NANOG ), the cells showed peculiar immunophenotypic properties (CD73 + /CD39 + /CD90 + /CD105 + /CD44 -/+ /CD45 - ). The expression of HLA-DR, CD34, Fas and FasL was indicative of a possible phenotypic reprograming induced by inflammati

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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