Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) play important roles not only in the physiological functions of the blood vessels, such as vasoconstriction, vasodilatation and extracellular matrix production, but also in the pathogenesis of vascular diseases, particularly atherosclerosis and hypertension. VSMCs are mostly of mesodermal origin, although some are of neuroectodermal origin, for example, VSMCs present in the aorta and in blood vessels arising from the aortic arch. VSMCs of neuroectodermal origin are implicated in defects of cardiovascular morphogenesis, such as bicuspid aortic valve, coarctation of the aorta, patent ductus arteriosus and tetralogy of Fallot. The origin, location in the vascular tree, gender, species, strain and age influence the phenotype of VSMCs and their propensity to migration and growth. In a healthy adult organism, VSMCs have a quiescent and differentiated contractile phenotype characterized by early markers (e.g., SM α-actin, SM22-α), intermediate markers (h-caldesmon, calponin) and late markers (SM myosins, smoothelin) of VSMC differentiation. However, after blood vessel injury, surgery or explantation in vitro, VSMCs undergo a phenotypic modulation to synthetic phenotype, which endows them with high activity in migration, growth and proteosynthesis. These features can lead to stenosis or to obliteration of the vascular lumen and impaired blood supply to various tissues and organs.

Breast-conserving treatment (BCT) leads to a progressive and deteriorating breast deformity. Fatgrafting is ideal for breast reconstruction after BCT. The most frequently utilized technique for fat processing is centrifugation. The PureGraft device (Cytori Therapeutics, San Diego, CA, USA) is a new method that involves washing and filtering the fat to prepare the graft. We compared the subjective and objective outcomes of two fat-processing methods, centrifugation and PureGraft filtration.

The opinion regarding the origin of adult stem cells that should be used for living bone construct generation is strongly divided in the scientific community. In this study, the potential of chitosan/ β -1,3-glucan/hydroxyapatite (chit/glu/HA) material as a scaffold for bone regeneration applications was evaluated by behaviour comparison of adult stem cells derived from both origins—adipose derived mesenchymal stem cell (ADSC) tissue and bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMDSCs). In the case of ADSC isolation, low and high negative pressures were applied during a liposuction procedure in order to determine if negative pressure settings may have an impact on subsequent cell behaviour in vitro. The obtained results demonstrated that the chit/glu/HA material is a promising candidate to be used for living bone graft production in vitro as both ADSCs and BMDSCs revealed a satisfactory proliferation and differentiation ability on its surface. Nevertheless, BMDSCs would be a better choice of adult stem cells since they were better spread, more strongly attached and showed a more superior proliferation and differentiation ability than ADSCs when cultured on the chit/glu/HA scaffold. However, if BMDSCs cannot be isolated, ADSCs may be used for bone construct production but lipoaspirate should be collected under low negative pressure (−200 mm Hg), as high negative pressure (−700 mmHg) applied during liposuction surgery may retard subsequent ADSC proliferation and type I collagen production.