Properties and behaviours of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in response to lung microenvironment in human Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a life-threatening condition with a high mortality. Currently, there are no proven pharmacological therapies available for the management of ARDS patients. Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) have been shown to be interesting candidates for treating ARDS. But their therapeutic effects as demonstrated in animal models and clinical trials have been inconsistent. The observations that MSC treatment may result in unwanted effects under certain conditions suggest a need for identifying biomarkers in ARDS patients to guide MSC therapy. This project seeks to investigate whether the lung microenvironment plays an important role in determining MSC function in ARDS. Plasma will be collected from ARDS patients and divided into 2 groups. TO BE CONT’D

Faculty Supervisor:

Haibo Zhang

Student:

Partner:

Guangzhou Medical University

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology; Life Sciences (not health)

University:

University of Toronto

Program: