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Yue Zhu,1,* Rongjia Zhu,2,* Kun Liu,3,* Xin Li,1 Dezhong Chen,4 Dunyao Bai,5 Jieli Luo,5 Yixun Liu,6 Yan Zhang,7 Li Li,8 Junfang Hu,9 Dayong Xu,10 Yan Liu,10 Robert Chunhua Zhao2,11 1Stem Cell Lab, Puren Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430081, People’s Republic of China; 2Institute of Basic Medical Sciences Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, School of Basic Medicine Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100005, People’s Republic of China; 3Otorhinolaryngology, Puren Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430081, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Puren Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430081, People’s Republic of China; 5Molecular Laboratory, Puren Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430081, People’s Republic of China; 6Gonadal Biology Research Group, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, People’s Republic of China; 7National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of China; 8The Ministry of Science and Education, Puren Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430081, People’s Republic of China; 9Department of Pharmacy, Puren Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430081, People’s Republic of China; 10Puren Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430081, People’s Republic of China; 11School of Life Sciences, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Robert Chunhua ZhaoInstitute of Basic Medical Sciences Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, School of Basic Medicine Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100005, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail zhaochunhua@vip.163.comYan LiuStem Cell Lab, Puren Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430081, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail liuyan@wust.edu.cnBackground: COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) has become a global public health emergency since patients were first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Currently, there are no satisfying antiviral medications and vaccines available.Case Presentation: We reported the treatment process and clinical outcome of a 48-year-old man critically ill COVID-19 patient who received transfusion of allogenic human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs).Conclusions: We proposed that UC-MSC transfusion might be a new option for critically ill COVID-19. Although only one case we were shown, more similar clinical cases are inquired for further evidence providing the potential effectiveness of UC-MSC treatment.Keywords: COVID-19, UC-MSCs, critically ill, cell transplantation, case report

Li Wan,1,* Xinglei Yao,1–3,* Francesco Faiola,3 Bojun Liu,4 Tianyuan Zhang,2 Yasuhiko Tabata,5 Hiroyuki Mizuguchi,6 Shinsaku Nakagawa,7 Jian-Qing Gao,2 Robert Chunhua Zhao1 1Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, School of Basic Medicine Peking Union Medical College, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Center of Excellence in Tissue Engineering Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 2Institute of Pharmaceutics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 3State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 4YouAn Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Biomaterials, Field of Tissue Engineering, Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 6Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University, Osaka, 7Department of Biotechnology and Therapeutics, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are adult stem cells with multilineage potential, which makes them attractive tools for regenerative medicine applications. Efficient gene transfer into MSCs is essential not only for basic research in developmental biology but also for therapeutic applications involving gene-modification in regenerative medicine. Adenovirus vectors (Advs) can efficiently and transiently introduce an exogenous gene into many cell types via their primary receptors, the coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptors, but not into MSCs, which are deficient in coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptors expression. To overcome this problem, we developed an Adv coated with a spermine-pullulan (SP) cationic polymer and investigated its physicochemical properties and internalization mechanisms. We demonstrated that the SP coating could enhance adenoviral transduction of MSCs without detectable cytotoxicity or effects on differentiation. Our results argue in favor of the potentiality of the SP-coated Adv as a prototype vector for efficient and safe transduction of MSCs. Keywords: mesenchymal stem cells, adenovirus vectors, spermine-pullulan, polymer, gene transduction