Characterization of mesenchymal stem cells in patients with esophageal atresia.

BACKGROUND:Preclinical studies demonstrate that tissue engineering and patient-derived stem cells can regenerate tissue. The goal of this study was to determine whether stem cells from esophageal atresia patients (EA) could be utilized for this purpose. METHODS:Adipose tissue was obtained from control, esophageal atresia (EA) and long gap esophageal atresia (LGEA) patients. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were isolated, expanded, characterized and seeded onto tubular scaffolds for 6 days. Scaffolds were characterized for viability, gene expression and cytokine production. RESULTS:The average weight of tissue from the EA and LGEA patients was 145.8mg compared to 2981 mg in controls. Despite the small amount of tissue obtained from neonatal patients, cells were expanded to cover a scaffold. After incubating 6 days on the scaffold, cells were viable and proliferating with differences in gene expression between groups. VEGFA production in the supernatant was increased in EA and LGEA patients; while IL6 production was significantly increased in the control patients. CONCLUSIONS:This study demonstrates the ability to utilize small amounts of adipose tissue from esophageal atresia patients as a cell source for regenerative medicine. Future studies will focus on use of these cells for tissue regeneration in vivo.