Human adipose stem cell (hASC) has shown a great potential in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine for facilitating tissue regeneration, especially ischemic tissue repair. Although it provides an abundant and easily accessible cell source for stem cell therapy, the loss of hASC’s multipotency during cell culture in vitro is a critical problem for clinical applications. In this study, a functionalized self-assembling peptide (SAP) was obtained by adding a bone marrow homing peptide, PFS (PFSSTKT), to the C-terminus of SAP RADA (AcN-(RADA)4-CONH2). Our results showed that PFS-functionalized self-assembling peptide hydrogel promoted cell survival, attachment and proliferation. In addition, the hASCs seeded on the surfaces of SAP hydrogels migrated into the hydrogel to a depth of several hundred micrometers. The migration of hASCs into RADA was significantly greater than cells seeded on RAD/PFS, indicating the functional motif PFS may promote cell homing and reduce cell dispersion. Importantly, for hASCs cultured in RADA and RAD/PFS hydrogels, the total amount of secreted angiogenic growth factors VEGF and HGF were maintained at high levels for 2 weeks. The levels of VEGF and HGF may be elevated due to rapid increases in cell numbers and enhanced secretion by these cells in the RADA and RAP/PFS hydrogels in comparison to cells cultured on tissue culture plate. © 2017 American Scientific Publishers All rights reserved.