MSC Applications

Jayita Barua (Joy)

Last updated: 07.03.2024

Acute Respiratory distress Syndrome (ARDS) is a severe clinical condition that often results into fatality. It can be caused by critical illnesses, infections, and injuries. The available treatment options are not curative, but supportive in nature, focused on relieving the symptoms only. The main pathological hallmarks of ARDS are severe self-sustaining neutrophilic inflammation, retention of vascular fluid in the lung alveoli, both of which result into inefficient gaseous exchange, hypoxemia, and hypoxia.

Decade-long pre-clinical research on the potential of Mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) therapy to treat ARDS suggests that MSCs are good candidates for cell-based therapy due to their secreted paracrine factors that have anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic properties. On the contrary, not all clinical trials have shown promise. This can be attributed to different methodologies, MSC sources, heterogeneous patient population etc. This made me interested in learning specific mechanisms by which MSC-efficacy can be enhanced to ensure clinical success.

I am currently working on understanding the effect of bone marrow derived MSCs on the neutrophils that infiltrate the alveolar spaces during acute lung injury. Given that the ARDS morbidity correlate with the extent of neutrophilia, little has been discovered about the mechanisms that are involved in reduction of neutrophil infiltration following MSC-intervention. The goal of this study is to understand the neutrophil phenotypes and associated functions during ARDS that are altered by MSCs. This study will contribute to better understanding  and overcoming the challenges associated with efficacy of MSC treatment in ARDS.