Search

Introduction: Bronchiectasis is a common condition and a leading cause of respiratory morbidity and mortality. The treatment method for bronchiectasis is mainly symptomatic treatment or surgery; however, this condition is extremely prone to recurrence., Objectives: To preliminarily evaluate the safety and efficacy of applying SOX9 + autologous airway basal cells (BCs) in patients with bronchiectasis., Methods: SOX9 + BCs were isolated from microscale tissue of a grade 3-5 bronchus by bronchoscopic brushing and expanded in vitro for approximately 4 weeks. Subsequently, the autologous SOX9 + BCs were transplanted into the diseased bronchus to treat patients with bronchiectasis., Results: The forced expiratory volume in1 second (FEV1)%, forced vital capacity (FVC)%, total lung capacity (TLC)%, residual volume (RV)% and RV/TLC ratio of predicted value in patients with bronchiectasis were improved at 4, 12, 24 and 48 weeks after cell transplantation, although the differences were not statistically significant (P > .05). Chest CT scans showed that the lesions in the pulmonary segment had not progressed at 4, 12 and 24 weeks after transplantation. No patients died during the follow-up. At 4, 12 and 24 weeks after transplantation, routine blood tests, liver function tests, renal function tests and myocardial enzymatic indexes were normal (P > .05)., Conclusion: Transplantation of autologous SOX9 + BCs has positive effects and is safe for patients with bronchiectasis., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Introduction: Bronchiectasis is a common condition and a leading cause of respiratory morbidity and mortality. The treatment method for bronchiectasis is mainly symptomatic treatment or surgery; however, this condition is extremely prone to recurrence. Objectives: To preliminarily evaluate the safety and efficacy of applying SOX9+ autologous airway basal cells (BCs) in patients with bronchiectasis. Methods: SOX9+ BCs were isolated from microscale tissue of a grade 3‐5 bronchus by bronchoscopic brushing and expanded in vitro for approximately 4 weeks. Subsequently, the autologous SOX9+ BCs were transplanted into the diseased bronchus to treat patients with bronchiectasis. Results: The forced expiratory volume in1 second (FEV1)%, forced vital capacity (FVC)%, total lung capacity (TLC)%, residual volume (RV)% and RV/TLC ratio of predicted value in patients with bronchiectasis were improved at 4, 12, 24 and 48 weeks after cell transplantation, although the differences were not statistically significant (P >.05). Chest CT scans showed that the lesions in the pulmonary segment had not progressed at 4, 12 and 24 weeks after transplantation. No patients died during the follow‐up. At 4, 12 and 24 weeks after transplantation, routine blood tests, liver function tests, renal function tests and myocardial enzymatic indexes were normal (P >.05). Conclusion: Transplantation of autologous SOX9+ BCs has positive effects and is safe for patients with bronchiectasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irreversible destruction of bronchi and alveoli can lead to multiple incurable lung diseases. Identifying lung stem/progenitor cells with regenerative capacity and utilizing them to reconstruct functional tissue is one of the biggest hopes to reverse the damage and cure such diseases. Here we showed that a rare population of SOX9+ basal cells (BCs) located at airway epithelium rugae can regenerate adult human lung. Human SOX9+ BCs can be readily isolated by bronchoscopic brushing and indefinitely expanded in feeder-free condition. Expanded human SOX9+ BCs can give rise to alveolar and bronchiolar epithelium after being transplanted into injured mouse lung, with air-blood exchange system reconstructed and recipient’s lung function improved. Manipulation of lung microenvironment with Pirfenidone to suppress TGF-β signaling could further boost the transplantation efficiency. Moreover, we conducted the first autologous SOX9+ BCs transplantation clinical trial in two bronchiectasis patients. Lung tissue repair and pulmonary function enhancement was observed in patients 3-12 months after cell transplantation. Altogether our current work indicated that functional adult human lung structure can be reconstituted by orthotopic transplantation of tissue-specific stem/progenitor cells, which could be translated into a mature regenerative therapeutic strategy in near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]