Understanding Exosomes: How Fat Processing Methods Affect Healing Signals
M. García-Contreras, F. Messaggio, O. Jimenez, A. Mendez · 2014
Tiny Messenger Particles May Explain Regenerative Benefits
Your body's cells communicate through microscopic packages called exosomes. Think of exosomes as tiny envelopes that carry healing instructions between cells. They contain proteins, fats, and genetic material that tell nearby cells how to repair and regenerate tissue. Scientists are discovering that these messengers may be key to understanding why regenerative treatments work.
This laboratory study explored whether the way fat tissue is processed affects how many of these healing messengers remain in the final product. The answer could help explain why some processing methods may offer better regenerative results than others.
Mechanical Processing Preserves More Healing Messengers
Researchers compared two methods of processing fat tissue from five female donors aged 22 to 43. The first method used Lipogems® technology, which mechanically breaks down fat tissue without chemicals. The second method used an enzyme called collagenase to digest the tissue—a common approach for isolating cells.
The results showed a clear difference. Fat tissue processed with the gentle mechanical method contained significantly more exosomes than tissue treated with enzymes. This finding suggests that how we handle fat tissue matters greatly for preserving its healing potential.
Why Gentle Processing Makes a Difference
The Lipogems® system works by passing fat tissue through progressively smaller mesh filters. This process breaks the tissue into tiny clusters while washing away blood and oil residues. Importantly, it avoids harsh chemical treatments.
In contrast, enzyme-based methods break down tissue more aggressively. While this approach effectively isolates individual cells, it appears to reduce the number of exosomes in the final product. Since exosomes carry important healing signals, losing them could mean losing some therapeutic benefit.
Both Methods Produce Properly Sized Particles
The researchers measured the size of exosomes from both processing methods. All samples contained particles in the expected range of 30 to 200 nanometers. To put this in perspective, a human hair is about 80,000 nanometers wide—these particles are incredibly small. This confirms that both methods produce genuine exosomes, but the mechanical method simply preserves more of them.
Fresh Samples Showed the Greatest Advantage
The study also looked at timing. Some samples were analyzed fresh, while others were kept overnight. Fresh samples processed with Lipogems® showed the highest exosome concentration of all groups tested. This suggests that using mechanically processed fat tissue promptly may maximize the delivery of healing messengers to treatment sites.
What This Means for Tissue Regeneration Patients
If you are considering regenerative treatment, this research offers helpful insights. Scientists increasingly believe that fat-derived products help healing through "paracrine" effects. This means the cells work by sending chemical signals to surrounding tissue rather than replacing damaged cells directly.
Exosomes appear to be one important way these signals travel. A processing method that preserves more exosomes could potentially deliver stronger regenerative signals to injured areas. While this laboratory study cannot prove clinical outcomes, it provides scientific reasoning for why gentle, mechanical processing might benefit patients.
The Lipogems® approach uses your own fat tissue without adding enzymes or other chemicals. This study suggests such minimal processing may better preserve the natural healing components already present in your tissue. For patients exploring options for joint problems, tissue damage, or other conditions, understanding these differences can help inform discussions with healthcare providers.
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Source: García-Contreras et al., None, 2014.
Original Publication
Differences in exosome content of human adipose tissue processed by non-enzymatic and enzymatic methods
M. García-Contreras, F. Messaggio, O. Jimenez, A. Mendez · 2014
Exosomes (EXOs) are membrane vesicles released by most cell types that contain lipids, proteins, and RNA (mRNAs, microRNAs, non-coding RNAs) and have demonstrated diagnostic and therapeutic potential. Secreted EXOs transport to other cells and deliver their contents into recipient cells, playing a role in cell-to-cell communication. Adipose tissue and adipose-derived stromal cells (ADSCs) represent a promising therapeutic option in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering applications. ADSCs effects on immunomodulation and tissue repair may be attributed to paracrine secreted factors, including EXOs. Here we examine whether human adipose tissue processing methods could affect the EXOs content of the final cell/tissue product by comparing non-enzymatic and enzymatic methods. Human adipose tissue samples were obtained from elective liposuction procedures (n=5 female subjects, ages 22-43 years) and processed using either a mechanical fragmentation method (Lipogems®) or enzymatic digestion with collagenase. EXOs were subsequently isolated from the processed tissues using differential ultracentrifugation and characterized to determine whether processing methodology affects exosome content and yield in clinically-used adipose tissue products.