Translational lung transplantation and lung cell therapy research
Lindstedt group
Our research
The Lindstedt group is led by Professor Sandra Lindstedt, a senior consultant in thoracic surgery specializing in heart and lung transplantation, with a long-standing interest in lung transplantation related research, post-transplant complications and lung regeneration.
Lung transplantation (LTx) is the only effective treatment for patients with end stage lung disease. Over 64,000 lung transplants have been performed worldwide, with over 4,500 being conducted annually. Despite improvements in the transplant procedure, ischemia-reperfusion (IR) induced lung injury remains the leading cause of primary graft dysfunction (PGD), early recipient mortality, and contributes to the development of chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD). Fear of these complications leads to low utilization rate (approximately 25%) of donated lungs.
A reason for rejecting a donated lung is lung injuries caused by processes such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Consequently, new potential therapies are being explored to treat lung injuries in patients with ARDS to improve outcome and in organ donors to improve the availability and quality of suitable donor organs.
The Lindstedt group has created ex vivo human models and in vivo and ex vivo porcine models of lung injuries such as ARDS, the broad category of respiratory disease for severe COVID-19 patients. The Lindstedt group are currently working to develop mesenchymal stromal cell therapies within these models. Interested in pursuing this research with ARDS, as well as other settings of lung regeneration following lung injury such as PGD, with the aim to treat ARDS and to increase the number of lungs suitable for transplantation but also to reduce complications after lung transplantation by increasing the tolerability of the new organ and bring this research towards clinical applications.
Aims
- Translational and clinical approaches to develop novel therapeutic treatments for lung injury
- Evaluating treatments such as cell therapy in ARDS, Ex Vivo Lung Perfusion (EVLP), Extra corporal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), PGD and transplant models and its effectiveness of reducing inflammatory mediators and immune response
- Increase the number of lungs suitable for transplantation but also to reduce complications after lung transplantation by increasing the tolerability of the new organ
- Bring cell therapy into clinical applications
Impact
The need for lung transplantation radically exceeds the availability of organs resulting in deaths on the waiting list. In addition, 85% of donor grafts are unused due to lung injury. Methods to increase the number of donor organs and their quality is therefore crucial. Additionally, when a donor organ is transplanted, survival remains low due to the development of PGD and CLAD. There is a general lack of treatments for both PGD and CLAD. Furthermore, ARDS is a common cause of death in the intensive care unit with mortality rates of around 30-50% and even up to 80% in COVID-19-induced ARDS patients. There is currently no approved therapy for ARDS, other than supportive interventions, such as ventilatory and circulatory support. MSCs and its derivatives constitutes a potential treatment for inflammatory states in the lung and may also potentially offer support after transplantation, due to their anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effect.
List of team Lindstedt publications
Team
Franziska Olm
Postdoc, Franziska [dot] Olm [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (Franziska[dot]Olm[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se)
Leif Pierre
Perfusionist, Leif [dot] Pierre [at] skane [dot] se (Leif[dot]Pierre[at]skane[dot]se)
Oskar Hallgren
Researcher, Oskar [dot] Hallgren [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (Oskar[dot]Hallgren[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se)
Anna Niroomand
PhD student, an608 [at] rwjms [dot] rutgers [dot] edu (an608[at]rwjms[dot]rutgers[dot]edu)
Haider Ghaiden
PhD Student, Haider [dot] Ghaidan [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (Haider[dot]Ghaidan[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se)
Martiné Wlosinska
PhD Student, Martine [dot] Wlosinska [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (Martine[dot]Wlosinska[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se)
Jesper Andreasson
PhD Student, Jesper [dot] Andreasson [at] skane [dot] se (Jesper[dot]Andreasson[at]skane[dot]se)
Martin Stenlo
PhD Student, Martin [dot] Stenlo [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (Martin[dot]Stenlo[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se)
Dag Edström
PhD Student, Dag [dot] Edstrom [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (Dag[dot]Edstrom[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se)
Ellen Broberg
Researcher, Ellen [dot] Broberg [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (Ellen.Broberg@med.lu.se)
Snejana Hyllen
Researcher, Snejana [dot] Hyllen [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (Snejana.Hyllen@med.lu.se)
Theodore Manolopoulos
Researcher
Annki Nilsson
Research assistant/nurse
Eva-Marie Braf
Research assistant/nurse
Embla Bodén Janson
Student, em8536ja-s [at] student [dot] lu [dot] se (em8536ja-s[at]student[dot]lu[dot]se)
Gabriel Hirdman
Student, eko15ghi [at] student [dot] lu [dot] se (eko15ghi[at]student[dot]lu[dot]se)
Sandra Lindstedt
Principal Investigator
Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine (WCMM),
Lund University | Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Transplantation
Skåne University Hospital,
Lund, Sweden
Phone: +46 73 722 05 80
Mail: sandra [dot] lindstedt [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (Sandra[dot]Lindstedt[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se)
Current major grants
- Marcus and Marianne Wallenberg, Clinical Fellow
- WCMM. Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation
- Region Skåne
- Cancerfonden
- Hjärt och Lungfonden
- Sjöberg Stiftelsen
- Fru Berta Kamprads Stiftelse
- Vinnova
- ALF Foundation
- SUS Foundation
Affiliations
- Lund Stem Cell Center
- StemTherapy
- Region Skåne – Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery
- ECTORS - European Cell Therapy and Organ Regeneration Section
- WCMM – Wallenberg Center for Molecular Medicine
- LUCC - Lunds University Cancer Centrum