Rationale: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and emphysema are characterized by arrested alveolar development or loss of alveoli; both are significant global health problems and currently lack effective therapy. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) prevent adult lung injury, but their therapeutic potential in neonatal lung disease is unknown. Objectives: We hypothesized that intratracheal delivery of BMSCs would prevent alveolar destruction in experimental BPD. Methods: In vitro, BMSC differentiation and migration were assessed using co-culture assays and a modified Boyden chamber. In vivo, the therapeutic potential of BMSCs was assessed in a chronic hyperoxiainduced model of BPD in newborn rats. Measurements and Main Results: In vitro, BMSCs developed immunophenotypic and ultrastructural characteristics of type II alveolar epithelial cells (AEC2) (surfactant protein C expression and lamellar bodies) when co-cultured with lung tissue, but not with culture medium alone or liver. Migration assays revealed preferential attraction of BMSCs toward oxygen-damaged lung versus normal lung. In vivo, chronic hyperoxia in newborn rats led to air space enlargement and loss of lung capillaries, and this was associated with a decrease in circulating and resident lung BMSCs. Intratracheal delivery of BMSCs on Postnatal Day 4 improved survival and exercise tolerance while attenuating alveolar and lung vascular injury and pulmonary hypertension. Engrafted BMSCs coexpressed the AEC2-specific marker surfactant protein C. However, engraftment was disproportionately low for cell replacement to account for the therapeutic benefit, suggesting a paracrine-mediated mechanism. In vitro, BMSC-derived conditioned medium prevented O 2 -induced AEC2 apoptosis, accelerated AEC2 wound healing, and enhanced endothelial cord formation. Conclusions: BMSCs prevent arrested alveolar and vascular growth in part through paracrine activity. Stem cell-based therapies may offer new therapeutic avenues for lung diseases that currently lack efficient treatments.

Mortality and morbidity of acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome remain high because of the lack of pharmacological therapies to prevent injury or promote repair. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) prevent lung injury in various experimental models, despite a low proportion of donor-derived cell engraftment, suggesting that MSCs exert their beneficial effects via paracrine mechanisms. We hypothesized that soluble factors secreted by MSCs promote the resolution of lung injury in part by modulating alveolar macrophage (AM) function. We tested the therapeutic effect of MSC-derived conditioned medium (CdM) compared with whole MSCs, lung fibroblasts, and fibroblast-CdM. Intratracheal MSCs and MSC-CdM significantly attenuated lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced lung neutrophil influx, lung edema, and lung injury as assessed by an established lung injury score. MSC-CdM increased arginase-1 activity and Ym1 expression in LPS-exposed AMs. In vivo, AMs from LPS-MSC and LPS-MSC CdM lungs had enhanced expression of Ym1 and decreased expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase compared with untreated LPS mice. This suggests that MSC-CdM promotes alternative macrophage activation to an M2 "healer" phenotype. Comparative multiplex analysis of MSC- and fibroblast-CdM demonstrated that MSC-CdM contained several factors that may confer therapeutic benefit, including insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I). Recombinant IGF-I partially reproduced the lung protective effect of MSC-CdM. In summary, MSCs act through a paracrine activity. MSC-CdM promotes the resolution of LPS-induced lung injury by attenuating lung inflammation and promoting a wound healing/anti-inflammatory M2 macrophage phenotype in part via IGF-I.

Despite substantial progress, mortality and morbidity of the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a severe form of acute lung injury (ALI), remain unacceptably high. There is no effective treatment for ARDS/ALI. The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) through Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)-generated Angiotensin II contributes to lung injury. ACE2, a recently discovered ACE homologue, acts as a negative regulator of the RAS and counterbalances the function of ACE. We hypothesized that ACE2 prevents Bleomycin (BLM)-induced lung injury. Fourteen to 16-week-old ACE2 knockout mice-male (ACE2(-/y)) and female (ACE2(-/-))-and age-matched wild-type (WT) male mice received intratracheal BLM (1.5U/kg). Male ACE2(-/y) BLM injured mice exhibited poorer exercise capacity, worse lung function and exacerbated lung fibrosis and collagen deposition compared with WT. These changes were associated with increased expression of the profibrotic genes α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and Transforming Growth Factor ß1. Compared with ACE2(-/y) exposed to BLM, ACE2(-/-) exhibited better lung function and architecture and decreased collagen deposition. Treatment with intraperitoneal recombinant human (rh) ACE2 (2 mg/kg) for 21 days improved survival, exercise capacity, and lung function and decreased lung inflammation and fibrosis in male BLM-WT mice. Female BLM WT mice had mild fibrosis and displayed a possible compensatory upregulation of the AT2 receptor. We conclude that ACE2 gene deletion worsens BLM-induced lung injury and more so in males than females. Conversely, ACE2 protects against BLM-induced fibrosis. rhACE2 may have therapeutic potential to attenuate respiratory morbidity in ALI/ARDS.