The incidence and mortality of acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are still very high, but stem cells show some promise for its treatment. Here we found that intratracheal administration of human umbilical cord-mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) significantly improved survival and attenuated the lung inflammation in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI mice. We also used the proteins-chip and bioinformatics to analyze interactions between UC-MSCs treatment and immune-response alternations of ALI mice. Then we demonstrated that UC-MSCs could inhibit the inflammatory response of mouse macrophage in ALI mice, as well as enhance its IL-10 expression. We provide data to support the concept that the therapeutic capacity of UC-MSCs for ALI was primarily through paracrine secretion, particularly of prostaglandin-E2 (PGE2). Furthermore, we showed that UC-MSCs might secrete a panel of factors including GM-CSF, IL-6 and IL-13 to ameliorate ALI. Our study suggested that UC-MSCs could protect LPS-induced ALI model by immune regulation and paracrine factors, indicating that UC-MSCs should be a promising strategy for ALI/ARDS.

Citation： Zhu Hua, Xiong Yi, Xia Yunqiu, Zhang Rong, Tian Daiyin, Wang Ting, Dai Jihong, Wang Lijia, Yao Hongbing, Jiang Hong, Yang Ke, Liu Enmei, Shi Yujun, Fu Zhou, Gao Li, Zou Lin. Therapeutic Effects of Human Umbilical Cord-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Acute Lung Injury Mice. West China medical Virtual Journal, 2000, 1(1): -. doi: 10.1038/srep39889 Copy