RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Stem cells constitute a group of great capacity for self-renewal, long-term viability, and multi-lineage potential. Several studies have provided evidence that adipose tissue represents an alternative source of stem cells, with the main benefit of adipose-derived stem cells being that they can be easily harvested from patients by a simple minimally invasive method and can be easily cultured. The aim of this study was to establish a culture protocol for obtaining and characterizing adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) from C57BL/6 J mice. RESULTS: The results showed that the yield, viability, and cell morphology obtained differ according to the age of isolated anatomic regions of the adipose tissue from ovarian and epididymis. The results of determination of cyclin D1 showed uniformity in the expression between different populations of ADSCs. A significant increase in the expression of caspase-3 active, was also observed in large cell populations from mice after 120 days. ADSCs were positive for mesenchymal markers CD90 and CD105, Nanog, SSEA-1, CD106, and VEGFR-1, and negative for hematopoietic markers CD34 and CD45. A large number of cells in S + G2/M phases was also observed for both sexes, demonstrating high proliferative capacity of ADSCs. CONCLUSIONS: We observed that the adipose tissue of C57BL/6 J mice, isolated from the studied anatomic regions, is a promising source for obtaining pluripotent mesenchymal stem cells with high viability and proliferative response.