Airway delivery of conditioned media from mesenchymal stem cells (MSC-CM) for COPD

Challenges and strategies: Scalable and efficient production of mesenchymal stem cells-derived exosomes for cell-free therapy

Exosomes are small membrane vesicles secreted by most cell types, and widely exist in cell supernatants and various body fluids. They can transmit numerous bioactive elements, such as proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids, to affect the gene expression and function of recipient cells. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been confirmed to be a potentially promising therapy for tissue repair and regeneration. Accumulating studies demonstrated that the predominant regenerative paradigm of MSCs transplantation was the paracrine effect but not the differentiation effect. Exosomes secreted by MSCs also showed similar therapeutic effects as their parent cells and were considered to be used for cell-free regenerative medicine. However, the inefficient and limited production has hampered their development for clinical translation. In this review, we summarize potential methods to efficiently promote the yield of exosomes. We mainly focus on engineering the process of exosome biogenesis and secretion, altering the cell culture conditions, cell expansion through 3D dynamic culture and the isolation of exosomes. In addition, we also discuss the application of MSCs-derived exosomes as therapeutics in disease treatment.

The marriage between nanotechnology and stem cells secretome for COPD

Abstract:

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a disorder characterized by narrow alveoli as a result of emphysema. As such, there is no treatment to cure this disorder completely, and existing drugs only delay the progression of the disease. In recent years, the stem cell secretome as a drug is remarkably used as a regenerative therapy. In particular, cell-free therapy approaches offer great opportunities for the treatment of COPD. However, a few issues such as the delivery of stem cell secretome as a drug to the alveolar region have obstructed their application in clinical scales. To address these challenges, a combination of stem-cells secretome as a drug with nanotechnology could be a smart solution. We suggest that the combinational approach of delivering nanoparticles loaded with stem cell secretome could be a translational medicine approach for the successful outcome of COPD.