Adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ASCs) have been described for a number of laboratory animals and humans. Improved culture conditions and cellular characteristics of ASCs have been identified. ASCs can self-renew and differentiate into multiple tissue lineages. Further characterization of ASCs in this manner could enhance the isolation and purification of a population of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from easily obtainable adipose tissue. These stem cell populations from domestic animals, which make attractive models for transplantation studies, will be valuable for the evaluation of their efficacy in tissue regeneration applications in the future. These cells may also represent a population more easily reprogrammable during somatic cell nuclear transfer and thus expedite the development of transgenic animals for models and production of valuable pharmaceutical proteins.
