Stem Cells, Cell Therapies, and Bioengineering in Lung Biology and Diseases 2017. An Official American Thoracic Society Workshop Report.

The University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine, in collaboration with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the Alpha-1 Foundation, the American Thoracic Society, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the European Respiratory Society, the International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy, and the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, convened a workshop titled "Stem Cells, Cell Therapies, and Bioengineering in Lung Biology and Diseases" from July 24 through 27, 2017, at the University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont. The conference objectives were to review and discuss current understanding of the following topics: ) stem and progenitor cell biology and the role that they play in endogenous repair or as cell therapies after lung injury, ) the emerging role of extracellular vesicles as potential therapies, ) bioengineering of lung and airway tissue, and ) progress in induced pluripotent stem cell protocols for deriving lung cell types and applications in disease modeling. All of these topics are research areas in which significant and exciting progress has been made over the past few years.

Differential MicroRNA Expression Levels in Cutaneous Acute Graft-Versus-Host Disease.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a curative treatment for numerous hematological malignancies. However, acute graft-versus-host disease (aGvHD) is a major complication affecting 40-70% of all transplant patients, whereby the earliest and most frequent presentation is in the skin. MicroRNAs play a role in varied biological process and have been reported as potential biomarkers for aGvHD.

miR-146a and miR-155 Expression Levels in Acute Graft-Versus-Host Disease Incidence.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is a curative treatment for numerous hematological malignancies. However, acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) is still the major complication causing mortality. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a significant role in inflammation and have potential as prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers.

Identification and validation of biomarkers associated with acute and chronic graft versus host disease.

Graft versus host disease (GVHD) is a major complication of haematopoietic SCT (HSCT). A number of inflammatory cytokines/chemokines are implicated in GVHD and have been identified in numerous single centre studies as potential biomarkers for acute and/or chronic GVHD. In this study, we analysed candidate inflammatory biomarkers (B-cell activating factor (BAFF), interleukin 33 (IL-33), CXCL10 and CXCL11) in a two-centre study.