Infrapatellar Fat Pad Stem Cells: From Developmental Biology to Cell Therapy

Figure 1

Ontogeny of the infrapatellar fat pad (IFP). During embryonic development, (a) a dense mesenchyme tissue arises between the chondrification of the femur (F) and tibia (T), the interzone (flattened cells in pink). (b) This is followed by a cavitation in between this region. (c) By the 9th week of human development, a triangular space composed of a mesenchymal tissue becomes visible below the patella (P) (highlighted by the blue dashed). (d) In adulthood, interzone cells will have contributed to several joint structures (pink), including the IFP (highlighted by the blue dashed). This image was made using https://MindTheGraph.com.