These data demonstrate that MSCs have beneficial effects on experimental sepsis, possibly by paracrine mechanisms, and suggest that immunomodulatory cell therapy may be an effective adjunctive treatment to reduce sepsis-related morbidity and mortality.

These results support a critical role for the Ang-1/Tie2 axis in modulating the pulmonary vascular response to lung injury and suggest that Ang-1 therapy may represent a potential new strategy for the treatment and/or prevention of acute respiratory distress syndrome in critically ill patients.

Acoustically stimulated microbubbles have been demonstrated to perturb endothelial cells of the vasculature resulting in biological effects. In the present study, vascular and tumor response to ultrasound-stimulated microbubble and radiation treatment was investigated in vivo to identify effects on the blood vessel endothelium. Mice bearing breast cancer tumors (MDA-MB-231) were exposed to ultrasound after intravenous injection of microbubbles at different concentrations, and radiation at different doses (0, 2, and 8 Gy). Mice were sacrificed 12 and 24 hours after treatment for histopathological analysis. Tumor growth delay was assessed for up to 28 days after treatment. The results demonstrated additive antitumor and antivascular effects when ultrasound stimulated microbubbles were combined with radiation. Results indicated tumor cell apoptosis, vascular leakage, a decrease in tumor vasculature, a delay in tumor growth and an overall tumor disruption. When coupled with radiation, ultrasound-stimulated microbubbles elicited synergistic anti-tumor and antivascular effects by acting as a radioenhancing agent in breast tumor blood vessels. The present study demonstrates ultrasound driven microbubbles as a novel form of targeted antiangiogenic therapy in a breast cancer xenograft model that can potentiate additive effects to radiation in vivo.