Potential role of stem cells in disease prevention based on a murine model of experimental necrotizing enterocolitis

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a devastating disease of newborns, and despite years of research, there is no known cure. The mortality rate of infants with NEC remains as high as 20%-30%. Babies who survive NEC frequently have long term complications including short gut syndrome, developmental delays and neurological sequelae. Unfortunately, despite much research over the past years, the precise pathogenesis of the disease is still not completely understood.

Our laboratory has focused on identifying novel therapies to prevent the disease, including the use of stem cells (SC), heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (HB-EGF) and recently, stem cell derived-exosomes, a type of nanovesicle, to combat this illness.

We have outlined the major SC lines and data suggesting potential benefit as a curative or preventive approach for NEC as well as describing several new therapeutic strategies, including stem cell derived- exosomes and HB-EGF for decreasing the incidence and severity of this disease in rat models in our lab.

Overall, our lab has demonstrated that these different types of SC equivalently reduce the incidence and severity of NEC and equally preserve intestinal barrier function during NEC. We have previously demonstrated that AF-MSC can protect the intestines from intestinal injury and may therefore hold strong therapeutic potential for the prevention of NEC. Most recently, our work with stem cell derived-exosomes has shown them to be equivalent to their derived SC lines in decreasing the incidence of this disease.