Potential of Human Wharton's Jelly Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hWJMSCs) Secretome for COVID-19 Adjuvant Therapy Candidate

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 is a virus that causes a serious life-threatening disease known as COVID-19. Patients with COVID19 can develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and multiorgan failure requiring safe and effective therapy. The human Wharton's Jelly Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hWJMSCs) can act as an anti-inflammatory and regenerative properties due to their secretion such as cytokine, growth factor, antimicrobial, and chemokine. A natural way of producing the secreted proteins of a cell (secretome) is by culturing mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) under starvation or serum deprivation condition. This research was performed to measure the level of Fibroblast Growth Factor-7 (FGF-7), antibacterial protein LL-37 (LL-37), interleukin 1 Receptor Antagonist (IL-1ra), respectively, in the secretome of hWJMSCs. The secretome levels at: non-starvation, 24-, 48-, and 72-hours starvation periods were measured using ELISA method. The hWJMSCs secreted levels of FGF-7, LL-37, and IL-1ra were 46.74 - 72.13 pg/mL, 1.70 - 4.14 ng/mL, 1.35 - 8.32 pg/mL, respectively. The longer the starvation period of cells, the higher the protein levels produced. The hWJMSCs secrete FGF-7, LL-37, IL-1ra, longer starvation periods of cells will increase secretome levels. The hWJMSCs could potentially serve as adjuvant therapy for COVID-19.