1. Introduction
Lung transplantation (LTx) has become the treatment of choice for patients with end-stage respiratory failure and, over the past decades, the worldwide survival of lung transplant patients has increased significantly
[1]. Unfortunately, the short- and long-term outcomes of LTxs are still less favorable than other solid organ transplants, the main faults being organ shortage and the fact that more than 80% of potential organ donors are not suitable or used for transplantation
[2][3][4][5][6]. Moreover, other factors, such as postoperative graft dysfunction (PGD), infections, and rejection may also contribute to post-transplant mortality
[7][8].
Although the use of extended-criteria lung donors and donors after cardio-circulatory death is increasing, there is still wide consensus in the transplant community that a large proportion of potentially viable grafts is discarded due to fear of early graft dysfunction and the increased postoperative morbidity and mortality of the recipient
[1][3][9][10]. Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is the leading cause of early postoperative lung dysfunction, and is characterized by alveolar damage and lung edema usually occurring within 72 hours after LTx
[11]. These pathological processes are driven by both oxidative stress and inflammatory pathways, which cause significant damage to the lung parenchyma, leading to the development of early PGD and consequent chronic lung allograft dysfunction
[1][10][11][12]. Therefore, a reduction in these adverse effects could significantly improve the success of LTx.
Recently, it has been shown that the use of normothermic ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) may be helpful in increasing the number and improving the results of lung transplantation
[13][14]. This procedure provides the opportunity to evaluate donor lung function, and different treatments can also be used to further reduce IRI
[15][16][17]. Therefore, the improvement of this technique represents a promising strategy to increase the number of suitable organs and to advance LTx.
A suitable approach to improving EVLP technique consists of using mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) and/or their secretome, which contains extracellular vesicles (EVs, such as exosomes and EXOs) and other bioactive molecules, including cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, angiogenic and immunomodulatory factors
[18][19][20][21]. Although the mechanisms are not fully defined yet, it has been widely demonstrated in both preclinical and clinical studies that therapeutic effects of MSCs are mediated, at least in part, by paracrine factors
[21][22][23][24]. MSCs’ therapeutic properties have been also evaluated in a phase II clinical trial to treat acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)
[25]. MSCs and/or their products are able to mitigate both lung injury and inflammation in different experimental models, and the infusion of MSCs protects transplanted lungs from IRI
[26][27][28][29]. Moreover, it has been found that MSC-based treatment during EVLP is associated with a decrease in ischemic injury of human donor lungs
[30][31][32]. In this case, to avoid the founding of infused MSCs in the lung parenchyma, cell-free therapies, including the use of MSC-derived EXOs and MSC-derived conditioned medium (CM), could be considered new approaches to obtaining MSCs’ beneficial effects. EXOs are nanosized structures carrying functional molecules
[33], and can be considered a promising therapeutic tool for acute lung injury because they reduce inflammation and enhance tissue regeneration
[34][35][36]. Similarly, MSC-derived CM has demonstrated beneficial effects on lung diseases
[37][38][39][40][41][42][43]. The use of MSC-derived products rather than direct use of MSCs can prevent all the risks associated with live-cell transplants. Therefore, the use of these products is emerging as a promising approach in the field of LTx.
2. Mesenchymal Stromal/Stem Cell (MSC)-based Therapeutic Approaches to Improve Lung Transplantation
Survival rates after LTx have improved, yet outcomes are still poorer than other solid organ transplants
[3][6]. The advances of the lung preservation techniques and the better understanding of the main mechanisms governing IRI processes can lead to a significant reduction in the incidence of lung PGD
[44]. This condition is a type of acute lung injury that results from IRI and represents the major cause of early post-transplant morbidity and mortality
[45]. In recent years, it has been shown that MSCs are able to reduce PGD. Jarvinen et al. showed that human lung resident MSCs have the potential to modulate immunological responses
[46], and McAuley et al. revealed that MSCs can have the ability to restore alveolar fluid clearance in human lungs rejected after transplantation
[32]. Moreover, allogenic MSCs were able to reduce both acute lung injury (ALI) in an animal model and CLAD in human lung transplant recipients
[47][48]. In fact, much scientific evidence has revealed the therapeutic properties of MSCs in different lung disease models
[49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64], including those induced by IRI-related pathological processes.
Table 1 summarized both in vitro and in vivo studies reporting the use of MSCs and/or their products in preventing lung injury/dysfunction. For LTx, there is a clinical need to implement new strategies for the prevention and treatment of IRI, and MSCs and/or their products represent a new therapeutic tool to prevent the occurrence of unwanted complications to further improve the success of LTx.
Table 1. Summary of studies reporting the use of MSCs and/or their products in preventing lung injury.
MSCs: mesenchymal stromal/stem cells; BM-MSCs: bone-marrow-derived MSCs; AMSCs: amnion-derived MSCs; UC-MSCs: umbilical-cord-derived MSCs; AdMSCs: adipose-derived MSCs; SHEDs: stromal/stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth; IRI: ischemia-reperfusion injury; EVLP: ex vivo lung perfusion; CM: conditioned medium; EVs: extracellular vesicles; BAL: bronchoalveolar lavage; ARDS: acute respiratory distress syndrome.
2.1. Therapeutic Effects of MSCs on Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury (IRI)
Ischemia-reperfusion injury events can occur in the case of stroke or myocardial infarction, as well as in solid organ transplantation. Prolonged ischemia causes deprivation of both oxygen and nutrients, leading to cellular metabolic and ultrastructural pathological changes
[69]. Pathological effects mediated by IRI are often potentiated by the onset of inflammation processes, affecting organ quality and transplant outcomes in solid organ transplantation
[70]. In this case, IRI-associated injury can be attenuated by cold ischemia storage, but it cannot be completely prevented
[71]. Moreover, oxidative stress is a crucial process of IRI-associated effects, leading to the production of toxic molecules
[69]. Much scientific evidence shows that MSCs have been able to decrease inflammation and IRI in both in vitro and in vivo models, and these effects are mediated by different mechanisms, including paracrine activity producing a functional secretome
[72]. It has been shown that AdMSCs were able to reduce myocardial IRI and to decrease pro-inflammatory cytokine in an in vivo mouse model
[73]. In an IRI rat model, Cui et al. demonstrated that AdMSC-derived EXOs were able to protect the myocardium
[74].
2.2. MSCs as Therapeutic Tool to Improve EVLP
Focusing on expanding the donor pool to reduce the mortality of lung transplant in recipient patients, different approaches are currently being explored, including the extended criteria for the selection of donors
[75], and lung procurement from donors after cardiac death
[3]. These strategies have led to the use of the so-called “marginal” organs that do not fulfill the standard criteria of donor lungs. For this scenario, the ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) technique was developed in order to: 1. assess graft function after procurement and before implantation; 2. preserve the graft after harvesting; and 3. repair/regenerate potential grafts previously considered unsuitable for transplantation
[17][76]. In a lung-transplanted rat model, EVLP treatment was able to protect lung tissue against IRI side effects
[77] and, to further reduce IRI complications, pharmacological treatments are possible either by intravascular or endobronchial administration
[15][16]. Moreover, although the molecular mechanisms underpinning lung regeneration during EVLP have not been explored yet, recent studies have analyzed metabolic/proteomic events to reveal potential regenerative effects of EVLP
[78][79]. This may offer an additional opportunity to evaluate both questionable donor lungs and the effectiveness of new treatments.
The overall data show that the role of MSCs in improving lung recovery appears to be mediated mainly by MSC paracrine signaling; furthermore, the use of MSCs and/or their products, including EVs and CM, represents a promising approach to improving EVLP reconditioning of transplanted lungs. Because of MSCs ability to secrete paracrine factors with anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and anti-apoptotic properties, MSCs and/or their products represent a useful tool for integration with EVLP to further preserve/regenerate lung tissue by attenuating IRI during LTx (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Therapeutic strategies to improve ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) during lung transplantation. EVLP treatment may sometimes be not sufficient to mitigate ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) effects, and lung graft can reveal the lung to have a poor quality after transplantation. The treatment with mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) and/or their products (conditioned medium and/or exosomes containing growth factors, cytokines and chemokines) can effectively potentiate EVLP performance and attenuate IRI adverse events by inducing: 1. tissue repair/regeneration; 2. inhibition of reactive oxygen species (ROS); 3. immunomodulation. These effects can lead to the improvement of clinical outcomes after lung transplantation.
3. Conclusions and Perspectives
Many preclinical studies in animal models have clearly shown that the therapeutic effects of MSCs on lung injury, and specifically on ischemia-reperfusion injury after LTx, are mediated by the reduction in inflammation
[26][27][28][29][34][35][36][37][39][40][65][51][55][63][67]. Moreover, in a preclinical setting, it has also been demonstrated that MSCs have been able to protect human lungs during transplantation
[30][31][32][68]. Interestingly, these effects appear to be related, at least in part, to the paracrine secretion of MSC factors, including proteins and EVs (such as EXOs), which offer an opportunity to develop new cell-free treatments for human lung diseases. On the other hand, only two clinical studies (clinicaltrial.gov, NCT number: NCT04714801 and NCT02181712) are currently testing the potential role of MSC therapy in lung transplantation to avoid graft rejection.
Therefore, although many works have shown the potential application of MSCs in improving the outcomes of lung transplantation, these effects have not been confirmed in appropriate clinical studies yet. Several issues can explain the limited use of MSCs in this field. There are still relevant limitations to the use of MSC therapy in lung transplant clinical practice. MSCs display mutable properties related to the biological and technical variability of their preparation, and these may impact on the therapeutic potency of MSCs
[21][80][81]. In particular, the optimal source, dose, and priming of MSCs is crucial and should be optimized. The best EVLP strategy and protocols to treat lungs before transplantation still need to be elucidated. In addition, another important aspect to be clarified is whether the use of MSC-derived products, such as secretome and/or EXOs, can offer additional benefits compared to standard preparations. The understanding of these critical issues could allow the introduction of MSC treatments in clinical lung transplantation. More efficacy studies—for example, in large animals—are needed to determine the best approach for a human clinical setting. Further investigation is needed to better integrate MSC therapy with EVLP use. This new strategy can lead to enhanced EVLP performance, with the ultimate goal of increasing the number of donor lungs and their quality. Moreover, the routine use of EVLP in clinical practice can favor an improvement in lung transplant management and outcomes.