Stem Cells, Cell Therapies, and Bioengineering in Lung Biology and Diseases. Comprehensive Review of the Recent Literature 2010–2012

Abstract

A conference, "Stem Cells and Cell Therapies in Lung Biology and Lung Diseases," was held July 25 to 28, 2011, at the University of Vermont to review the current understanding of the role of stem and progenitor cells in lung repair after injury and to review the current status of cell therapy and ex vivo bioengineering approaches for lung diseases. These are rapidly expanding areas of study that provide further insight into and challenge traditional views of mechanisms of lung repair after injury and pathogenesis of several lung diseases. The goals of the conference were to summarize the current state of the field, to discuss and debate current controversies, and to identify future research directions and opportunities for basic and translational research in cell-based therapies for lung diseases. The goal of this article, which accompanies the formal conference report, is to provide a comprehensive review of the published literature in lung regenerative medicine from the last conference report through December 2012.

iPSC‐derived mesenchymal stem cells exert SCF‐dependent recovery of cigarette smoke‐induced apoptosis/proliferation imbalance in airway cells

“…As COPD is predicted to be the fourth leading cause of death by 2030 [4] associated with enormous economic and social burden, seeking new treatments for COPD is an urgent and important task. MSCs from BM, adipose or cord blood have been demonstrated to attenuate emphysema induced by CS, elastase or VEGF deficiency [21,[33][34][35][36][37]. This led to a double-blind, placebo-controlled phase II clinical trial of systemic administrations of BM-MSCs to moderate or severe COPD patients [38].…”

Epithelial Cell Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stromal Cells in Decellularized Lung Scaffolds

“…4 Other studies have shown that L-MSCs derived from human lungs are capable of generating Clara, ATI, and ATII cells in vitro. 39,40 Hence, L-MSCs are an interesting population having lung epithelial differentiation capability under the appropriate culture conditions. Other mesenchymal cells from distinct origins may also have differences with regard to differentiation potential; these may include fetal-associated mesenchymal cells from the amniotic fluid, cord blood, Wharton's jelly, placenta, and amnion-derived MSCs.…”

EngineeringDe NovoAssembly of Fetal Pulmonary Organoids

“…2 Currently, extensive research efforts are aimed at engineering whole lungs for implantation, with the majority of attention focused on the use of decellularized cadaveric lungs recellularized with pulmonary derivatives of various stem/progenitor cell sources. [3][4][5] Over the past few years, significant progress has been made in understanding specific pathways that drive the directed differentiation of anterior foregut endoderm and lung epithelia from murine and human embryonic stem cells [6][7][8][9][10] and human induced pluripotent stem cells. 9,[11][12][13] In addition, there have been several recent reports that identify diverse resident lung stem/progenitor cells in humans 14,15 ; however, very little is known about the growth factor and extracellular matrix (ECM) cues required to drive de novo tissue formation by competent lung progenitor cells in vitro.…”