NON-NATURALLY OCCURING THREE-DIMENSIONAL (3D) BROWN ADIPOSE-DERIVED STEM CELL AGGREGATES, AND METHODS OF GENERATING AND USING THE SAME

1 - 21 . (canceled)

22 . A method of making a non-naturally occurring three-dimensional brown adipose derived stem cell aggregate consisting of brown adipose derived stem cells that express one or more brown adipocyte gene in the absence of differentiation medium, the method comprising:

loading brown adipose derived stem cells grown in a two-dimensional (2D) culture into a non-adherent culture plate; and

centrifuging the non-adherent culture plate to uniformly position the brown adipose derived stem cells in the non-adherent culture plate, thereby forming non-naturally occurring three-dimensional brown adipose derived stem cell aggregates, wherein the aggregates consist of brown adipose derived stem cells.

23 . The method of claim 22 , further comprising:

prior to the loading, culturing the brown adipose derived stem cells in a two-dimensional (2D) culture using growth medium under normoxia or hypoxia.

24 . The method of claim 22 , further comprising:

culturing the non-naturally occurring three-dimensional brown adipose derived stem cell aggregates in a non-adherent culture plate, such as an AggreWell™ 400Ex 6-well plate, at 37° C. in normoxia or hypoxia and 95% humidity for 24 hours in a growth medium after centrifuging and prior to harvesting the non-naturally occurring three-dimensional brown adipose derived stem cell aggregates.

25 . The method of claim 22 , further comprising:

loading the non-naturally occurring three-dimensional brown adipose derived stem cell aggregates into an encapsulation system;

differentiating the non-naturally occurring three-dimensional brown adipose derived stem cell aggregates into brown adipose tissue in a first differentiation medium; and

further differentiating the non-naturally occurring three-dimensional brown adipose derived stem cell aggregates into brown adipose tissue in a second differentiation medium.

26 . The method of claim 25 , wherein the encapsulation system is selected from the group consisting of alginate microcapsules, cellulose hydrogels, red blood cells, porous polymer membranes, 3D biological scaffolds, polymers, PEG-based hydrogels, non-hydrogel beads, and matrigel.

27 . The method of claim 25 , comprising

forming the non-naturally occurring three-dimensional brown adipose derived stem cell aggregates in a growth medium at ≈160 pm/aggregate before the loading of the non-naturally occurring three-dimensional brown adipose derived stem cell aggregates into the encapsulation system;

in the first differentiating step, using a xeno-free, serum free, chemically defined AD-2-DIFF-1 medium as the first differentiation medium; and

in the second differentiating step, using a xeno-free, serum-free, chemically defined AD-2-DIFF-2 medium as the second differentiation medium.

28 . The method of claim 27 , comprising

in the first differentiating step, differentiating the aggregates within the encapsulation system for 3 days in-vitro in the first differentiation medium; and

in the second differentiating step, further differentiating the aggregates within the encapsulation medical device for 20 days in-vitro in the second differentiation medium.

29 . The method of claim 25 ,

wherein the encapsulation system is an encapsulation medical device; or

wherein the first differentiation medium comprises dexamethasone, 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX), and triiodothyronine (T3); or

wherein the second differentiation medium comprises T3 and rosiglitazone.