Adipose-derived stem cells maintain their "stemness" and could be useful for cell-based therapies. Stefami Bucher of the San Gallicano Institute (Italy), Rita Falcioni of the Regina Elena Cancer Institute (Italy), and colleagues have  isolated and characterized adult fat cell-derived stem cells from patients undergoing lipoaspiration (surgical removal of fat deposits) in order to investigate the ability of the fat cells to maintain their stem cell characteristics in in vitro cultures to the point where once transplanted they could aid in tissue regeneration.  Explaining that adipose tissues share several biological properties with bone marrow, they can be found in abundance, they can be obtained from patients undergoing noninvasive lipoaspirate procedures, and they have the potential to be useful in a range of therapeutic applications, the researchers submit that the use of lipoaspirate as filling material is a powerful technique for tissue repair in plastic surgery. Combined with purified adipose-derived stem cells the time necessary to achieve the desired results is significantly shortened.