Adipose-Derived Stem Cells for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Applications

Table 1

Characteristics of different stem cells.

Category	Origin	Advantages	Disadvantages	References
Human embryonic stems cells (hESCs)	Human blastocysts	Pluripotent; nonimmunogenic	Insufficient sources; ethical and religious debates	[38]
Human fetal stem cells (hFSCs)	Fetal tissue (i.e., fetal blood from umbilical cord and amniotic fluid); Fetal appendixes (i.e., fetal membranes and placenta)	Broadly multipotent; nonimmunogenic; Less ethical and religious debates	Insufficient sources	[39, 41]
Adult stem cells	Adult tissues, such as bone marrow, adipose tissue, and skin	Multipotent; little ethical and religious debates; abundant sources; easily accessible	Relatively difficult to expand in vitro; limited use in clinical practice	[18, 19]
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)	Somatic cells	Pluripotent like ESCs; no ethical and religious debates; abundant sources	Difficult to induce; abundant sources	[40, 42]