Minireviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
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.