Hulin Jiang's team from the School of Pharmacy published a series of research results on engineered stem cells for tissue fibrosis treatment in Advanced Materials.

Publisher：石子遥Time：2025-03-13Visit：10

Recently, Professor Jiang Hulin's team from the School of Pharmacy published a series of the latest research findings on engineered stem cells for tissue fibrosis treatment in the authoritative journal Advanced Materials.

Pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive disease mainly characterized by respiratory system damage and impaired lung tissue function repair. The lung vascular niche, which regulates alveolar regeneration through vascular secreted factors, is crucial. However, the vicious crosstalk between myofibroblasts and vascular endothelial cells results in a significant loss of lung capillaries in the fibrotic area, worsening pulmonary fibrosis.

The team developed a multifunctional engineered mesenchymal stem cell (MSC-MM@LPHN) based on previous stem cell engineering technology to address this. This engineered cell can induce myofibroblast dedifferentiation, reduce endothelial cell damage factor secretion, and inhibit the transition of vascular endothelial cells to a fibrotic phenotype, thus restoring endothelial cell function. Meanwhile, it promotes angiogenesis via growth factors secreted by MSCs, remodels the normal vascular structure in the fibrotic area, and promotes lung tissue regeneration and fibrosis reversal.

The work titled Engineered MSCs break endothelial-myofibroblast crosstalk in pulmonary fibrosis: reconstructing the vascular niche was published in Advanced Materials. Doctoral student Fang Yuefei and master's student Zhang Chen from the School of Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, are the co-first authors. Researchers Zhou Fang, Academician Wang Guangji, and Professor Jiang Hulin are the co-corresponding authors.

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Original Link：https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/adma.202414601

Pancreatic fibrosis, a unique histopathological feature of chronic pancreatitis, is marked by the replacement of normal pancreatic parenchymal tissue with fibrotic collagen. For such fibrotic diseases focused on tissue repair, stem cell-based therapies, with functions like self-renewal and directed differentiation, offer a potential treatment approach. However, the team previously identified two major challenges in using stem cells for fibrosis treatment: first, the large size of stem cells limits their penetration through the fibrotic collagen layer, hindering their migration to the lesion core; second, the harsh fibrotic microenvironment causes rapid apoptosis and inactivation of stem cells at the injury site, reducing therapeutic efficacy. To overcome these challenges, the team developed engineered mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with nitric oxide - liposome grafting. This approach improves collagen fiber flexibility, alleviates vascular compression, enhances stem cell distribution in pancreatic tissue, and boosts their in vivo activity, thereby enhancing treatment efficacy.
The relevant study, titled Engineered stem cell booster breaks pathological barriers to treat chronic pancreatitis, was published in Advanced Materials. Postdoctoral researcher Han Han from the School of Science at China Pharmaceutical University, master's students Chen Bitu, Liu Yang from the School of Pharmacy, and Dr. Qi Liang from the Medical College of Southeast University are the co-first authors. Professor Cheng Xianwu from the Department of Cardiology at the Affiliated Hospital of Yanbian University, Professor Huang Zhangjian from China Pharmaceutical University and Xinjiang Medical University, Professor Li Ling from the Affiliated Zhongda Hospital of Southeast University, and Professor Jiang Hulin from China Pharmaceutical University are the co-corresponding authors.

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Full text link: https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.202416261

It is reported that the team will further focus on the engineering transformation of stem cells and their application in the treatment of tissue fibrosis, and actively promote the transformation of research and development into scientific and technological achievements. The above work was funded by the Key Research and Development Programme of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Key International (Regional) Collaborative Research Programme of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Major Project of Basic Research on Frontier-Led Technologies of Jiangsu Province, the Changbaishan Outstanding Team of Excellence Project, and the State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines of China Pharmaceutical University.



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