“Our results suggest we could one day test whether cells from a preemie’s umbilical cord might prevent them from developing a chronic lung disease,” says Dr. Bernard ThébaudNew research from Dr. Bernard Thébaud’s team could make it easier to deliver cell therapy to heal the lungs of pre-term babies and prevent a chronic lung disease called bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).
To date, Dr. Thebaud and his team have focused on cell therapy using mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) taken from donated umbilical cords of full term babies. Their new study, published in American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, suggests that a pre-term baby’s own umbilical cord MSCs could be just as good, as long as they have a certain genomic fingerprint identified by team member Dr. Chanèle Cyr-Depauw in a previous study.
The current study, which included MSCs from 21 human babies, found that MSCs from most of the term and pre-term babies had this genomic fingerprint, and could prevent lung injury in newborn rodents.
“Our results suggest we could one day test whether cells from a preemie’s umbilical cord might prevent them from developing a chronic lung disease,” says Dr. Thébaud, neonatologist and senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and CHEO and professor at the University of Ottawa.
Authors: Chanèle Cyr-Depauw, David P. Cook, Ivana Mižik, Flore Lesage, Arul Vadivel, Laurent Renesme, Yupu Deng, Shumei Zhong, Pauline Bardin, Liqun Xu, Marius A. Möbius, Jenny Marzahn, Daniel Freund, Duncan J. Stewart, Barbara C. Vanderhyden, Mario Rüdiger, Bernard Thébaud
Core resources: Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Facility, StemCore Laboratories, Louise Pelletier Histology Core Facility
Funding: This research was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the Stem Cell Network, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, The Canadian Lung Association, Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Molly Towell Perinatal Research Foundation and The German Research Foundation and the Clusters4Future Program - Cluster SaxoCell (03ZU1111IA) by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research.
The Ottawa Hospital is a leading academic health, research and learning hospital proudly affiliated with the University of Ottawa and supported by The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.
