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Umbilical Cord Cell 'Delivery Trucks' Could Treat Lung Damage from Chemical Warfare - Cord Blood

Cord Blood

and Stem Cell Banking

Umbilical Cord Cell ‘Delivery Trucks’ Could Treat Lung Damage from Chemical Warfare

abstract image representing healthy lungs

A study has been published focused on treating a type of lung damage (acute lung injury or ALI) that can be caused by exposure to sulfur mustard (SM). Sulfur mustard is a very harmful chemical often used in wars and conflicts, and it’s notoriously difficult to treat because we don’t fully understand how it harms our bodies. The lung damage it causes (ALI) is a major reason why people become severely sick or even die after exposure to SM.

Now, in our bodies, we have something called extracellular vesicles. You can think of these like little delivery trucks traveling between our cells. They carry different types of cargo that help cells to communicate with each other. In this case, the researchers are using extracellular vesicles taken from a particular type of cell found in human umbilical cords, called mesenchymal stromal cells (hucMSCs).

This study specifically focuses on a substance called miR-146a-5p that these vesicles can carry. They found out that this miR-146a-5p might play a key role in how these vesicles can help to reduce the inflammation (swelling and damage) that sulfur mustard causes in the lungs.

To test this idea, they did a bit of biological engineering: they altered these hucMSCs to make more (overexpress) or fewer (underexpress) miR-146a-5p in the vesicles they produce.

They found out that when the vesicles were carrying more miR-146a-5p (miR-146a-5p+-EVs), they were better at calming down the harmful inflammation caused by sulfur mustard. They also found out that this miR-146a-5p was targeting something called TRAF6, which is involved in the inflammation process.

In simpler terms, imagine a neighborhood (your lungs) being attacked by a group of vandals (SM). The miR-146a-5p is like a negotiator who calms down the vandals (anti-inflammatory effects), and the TRAF6 is like the ringleader of the vandals. The negotiator specifically targets the ringleader, calming him down, which in turn calms the rest of the group.

So, the big take-away from this study is that these extracellular vesicles carrying extra miR-146a-5p could potentially be used as a treatment for people who’ve been exposed to sulfur mustard, helping to minimize the lung damage caused by this harmful chemical.