Klimczak A. Perspectives on mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells and their derivates as potential therapies for lung damage caused by COVID-19. World J Stem Cells 2020; 12(9): 1013-1022 [PMID: 33033561 DOI: 10.4252/wjsc.v12.i9.1013]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Aleksandra Klimczak, PhD, DSc, Full Professor, Laboratory of Biology of Stem and Neoplastic Cells, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy Polish Academy of Sciences, Rudolfa Weigla 12, Wrocław 53-114, Poland. aleksandra.klimczak@hirszfeld.pl
Research Domain of This Article
Respiratory System
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (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/
World J Stem Cells. Sep 26, 2020; 12(9): 1013-1022 Published online Sep 26, 2020. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v12.i9.1013
Perspectives on mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells and their derivates as potential therapies for lung damage caused by COVID-19
Aleksandra Klimczak
Aleksandra Klimczak, Laboratory of Biology of Stem and Neoplastic Cells, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław 53-114, Poland
Author contributions: Klimczak A conceived the study, designed and wrote the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author declares that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.
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: Aleksandra Klimczak, PhD, DSc, Full Professor, Laboratory of Biology of Stem and Neoplastic Cells, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy Polish Academy of Sciences, Rudolfa Weigla 12, Wrocław 53-114, Poland. aleksandra.klimczak@hirszfeld.pl
Received: June 12, 2020 Peer-review started: June 12, 2020 First decision: July 30, 2020 Revised: August 24, 2020 Accepted: September 1, 2020 Article in press: September 1, 2020 Published online: September 26, 2020 Processing time: 101 Days and 19.2 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: The new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has reached pandemic proportions, causing coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which leads to severe pneumonia. The lungs are the primary organ affected by SARS-CoV-2, with a very slow turnover for renewal. SARS-CoV-2 enters the lungs and induces immune response with cytokine storm and subsequent organ dysfunction. To date, there is no effective antiviral therapy for COVID-19. Cell-based therapy involving mesenchymal stem cells and/or their secretome is considered a supportive therapy for critically ill COVID-19 patients. Mesenchymal stem cells can regenerate severely injured respiratory tract cells through their trophic, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory properties.