The preterm lungs and perinatal stress: Insights into the role of aberrant endogenous stem/progenitor cells and exogenous cell-based treatment

Preterm babies are often born with immature organs and are prone to develop neonatal diseases. Inflammatory insults that can occur during pregnancy (prenatally) or after pregnancy (postnatally) are responsible for the development of neonatal diseases. A severe lung disease in preterm babies is bronchopulomary dysplasia (BPD), which is characterized by breathing difficulties of the baby. So far, no treatment is efficient enough to prevent or cure BPD. One of the reasons for the lack of an efficient treatment is the complex nature of BPD. The development of BPD is still not fully understood and therefore finding an efficient treatment is still challenging. In this dissertation, the development of BPD has been investigated by focusing on the stem cells in the lungs before and after birth, which are essential for the growth of the lungs. Additionally, a stem cell treatment was tested with the aim to reduce respiratory problems in preterm babies.