Microgel coating helps donor cells reverse pulmonary fibrosis

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago say treatment with microgel-coated mesenchymal cells can help relieve fibrosis and promote tissue remodeling, even after lung tissue damage. Has been shown.

Pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic disease caused by environmental toxins, drugs, or medical conditions such as pneumonia or rheumatoid arthritis. The feature is that it can be scratched Organization Damaged or uncontrolled immune responses can cause mild to severe dyspnea and oxygen deficiency. Fibrosis is now considered almost irreversible, as current medications are slightly more effective at managing symptoms and usually cause serious side effects.

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are pluripotent and self-replicating. Stem cells, And the potential to treat conditions like fibrosis is being investigated.

“Previous studies have tested the therapeutic effects of MSC, which is known to suppress inflammation and adapt to a variety of tissue environments, but the effect so far is high levels of inflammation and tissue scar still developing. It was limited to the early stages of the disease, ”said Jae-Won Shin, assistant professor of pharmacology and bioengineering at UIC School of Medicine and head of the study. “Our approach was to optimize MSC-based therapies to work after the inflammation has subsided, which is when most people are diagnosed with fibrosis.

As explained in a new treatise published in Natural biomedical engineering, UIC researchers have designed thin microgels which, when designed in a particular way, can increase the therapeutic potential for degradation of MSCs. Scar tissue Regenerate healthy tissue in a murine model of fibrosis.

Singh and his colleagues designed a microgel that is as soft as healthy lung tissue and incorporates a small protein called tumor necrosis factor-α, also known as TNF-α, which is MSC collagenase. It acts as an inflammatory signal which promotes the synthesis of. Collagenase is an enzyme that breaks down excess collagen in fibrous tissue and promotes repair of damaged tissue.

To optimize the MSC with microgels, UIC researchers designed a microfluidic device to be encapsulated. Individual cells Quickly and evenly with a fine gel.

“We have scaled down the single cells that are important for delivering therapeutic agents to the small airways of the lungs on a small scale,” said Sing-, study lead author and UIC postdoctoral fellow in the department of pharmacology. said Wan Wong. Regenerative medicine.

In a fibrous lesion model, UIC researchers observed a decrease in fear indicators and an increase in health indicators. Lung tissueOnly in mice treated with MSCs coated with TNF-α integration gel via single cell encapsulation, such as normal collagen levels and architecture.

“This is one of the first scientific evidence that collagen levels can be normalized after fibrotic injury, and that the cellular environment as well as the cellular environment can be normalized. cell “Our results suggest a viable approach for predictive programming of cell function to achieve the desired therapeutic outcome,” explains Shin.