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©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Nov 26, 2025; 17(11): 114031
Published online Nov 26, 2025. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v17.i11.114031
Published online Nov 26, 2025. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v17.i11.114031
CD146-positive mesenchymal stromal cells: A promising subtype for enhanced acute respiratory distress syndrome therapy
Bin Li, Rui-Xi Ming, Yu-Meng Liu, Tang-Jie Zhang, Institute of Comparative Medicine, Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu Province, China
Bin Li, Center for Integrative Physiology and Molecular Medicine, University of Saarland, Homburg 66424, Saarland, Germany
Yu-Meng Liu, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu Province, China
Co-corresponding authors: Bin Li and Tang-Jie Zhang.
Author contributions: Li B contributed to the manuscript writing, conceptualization, and project administration; Li B, Ming RX, Liu YM, and Zhang TJ contributed to the manuscript reviewing and editing, and participated in the formal analysis. Li B and Zhang TJ designed the study and supervised the project; they contributed equally to this manuscript and are co-corresponding authors. All authors participated in manuscript discussing.
Supported by the Basic Research Program of Jiangsu Province (2024), No. BK20240907; the “Lv Yang Jin Feng” Outstanding Doctor of Yangzhou, No. YZLYJFJH2023YXBS169; and the Top-Level Talents Support Program of Yangzhou University.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Bin Li, PhD, Assistant Professor, Institute of Comparative Medicine, Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou University, No. 88 Daxue South Road, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu Province, China. 008480@yzu.edu.cn
Received: September 10, 2025
Revised: October 9, 2025
Accepted: October 28, 2025
Published online: November 26, 2025
Processing time: 77 Days and 18 Hours
Revised: October 9, 2025
Accepted: October 28, 2025
Published online: November 26, 2025
Processing time: 77 Days and 18 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This article presents evidence that CD146+ mesenchymal stromal cells define a high-potency subpopulation for acute respiratory distress syndrome therapy by engaging a nuclear factor kappa B → cyclooxygenase-2 paracrine signaling program. Enriching or priming mesenchymal stromal cells for CD146 expression and nuclear factor kappa B/cyclooxygenase-2 activity may yield practical potency biomarkers and enable more consistent, mechanism-driven cell therapies that more effectively restore alveolar-capillary barrier integrity.