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World J Stem Cells. Feb 26, 2021; 13(2): 139-154
Published online Feb 26, 2021. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v13.i2.139
Targeting mesenchymal stem cell therapy for severe pneumonia patients
Guy Lam, Yuan Zhou, Jia-Xian Wang, Yat-Ping Tsui
Guy Lam, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
Yuan Zhou, Jia-Xian Wang, Yat-Ping Tsui, Research and Development, Help Therapeutics Co. Ltd., Nanjing 211100, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Lam G contributed to conception, data analysis and interpretation, manuscript writing and final manuscript approval; Tsui YP contributed to conception, financial support, data analysis and interpretation, manuscript writing and final manuscript approval; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by the Project Contract for Technical Innovation Project for Small and Medium-sized Science and Technology Enterprises in Jiangning District, No. 2020JSCX0563.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yat-Ping Tsui, PhD, Director, Research & Development, Help Therapeutics Co. Ltd., No. 568 Longmian Avenue, Jiangning District, Nanjing 211100, Jiangsu Province, China. tsuiypa@helptx.com.cn
Received: July 17, 2020
Peer-review started: July 17, 2020
First decision: October 21, 2020
Revised: December 3, 2020
Accepted: December 27, 2020
Article in press: December 27, 2020
Published online: February 26, 2021
Abstract

Pneumonia is the inflammation of the lungs and it is the world’s leading cause of death for children under 5 years of age. The latest coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus is a prominent culprit to severe pneumonia. With the pandemic running rampant for the past year, more than 1590000 deaths has occurred worldwide up to December 2020 and are substantially attributable to severe pneumonia and induced cytokine storm. Effective therapeutic approaches in addition to the vaccines and drugs under development are hence greatly sought after. Therapies harnessing stem cells and their derivatives have been established by basic research for their versatile capacity to specifically inhibit inflammation due to pneumonia and prevent alveolar/pulmonary fibrosis while enhancing antibacterial/antiviral immunity, thus significantly alleviating the severe clinical conditions of pneumonia. In recent clinical trials, mesenchymal stem cells have shown effectiveness in reducing COVID-19-associated pneumonia morbidity and mortality; positioning these cells as worthy candidates for combating one of the greatest challenges of our time and shedding light on their prospects as a next-generation therapy to counter future challenges.

Keywords: Pneumonia, Human mesenchymal stem cells, Immunomodulation, Alveolar protection, Pandemic challenge, Clinical trials

Core Tip: This article reviews the therapeutic potential and amplifiable merits of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) established over the past decade and summarize pioneering clinical progress of MSC-based strategies to treat lung diseases considering the current demands of the pandemic and future prospects.