肺纤维化（PF）是由肺损伤及过度炎症引起的间质性肺病，发病机制复杂，缺乏有效的疗法，死亡率逐年增加。研究表明，间充质干细胞（MSCs）是治疗PF最为理想的新手段，但PF病理微环境严重影响MSCs的疗效。我们前期发现：枸杞多糖可显著促进人胎盘胎儿来源MSCs（fPMSCs）对PF病理进程的逆转作用，并上调了PF病理微环境中fPMSCs自噬的发生。由此，我们推测枸杞多糖通过调控自噬影响PF病理微环境中fPMSCs的生物功能及其对PF的疗效。在此基础上，本项目拟完成：1.确定枸杞多糖对PF病理微环境中fPMSCs自噬发生的调控作用；2.研究枸杞多糖介导的自噬对fPMSCs生物功能的调节及分子机制；3.明晰枸杞多糖干预fPMSCs自噬对PF治疗的影响及机理。本项目的实施将部分明确枸杞多糖在优化fPMSCs治疗PF中的调控作用及分子机制，为提高MSCs治疗PF新策略的提出提供理论基础和实验依据。

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a pulmonary interstitial disease caused by lung injury and inflammatory response. Pathogenesis is complicated. Clinically, there is still a lack of effective treatment to PF, and its mortality rate remains high. Some studies have demonstrated that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) as a novel treatment means has ideal therapeutic effects on pulmonary fibrosis. However, their therapeutic effect is restricted by pathological microenvironment of PF. Our recent work discovered that lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP) can promote the function of human placental MSCs of fetal origin (fPMSCs) to reverse the pathological progress of PF. Besides this, we clarified that LBP have the ability to elevate autophagy in pathological microenvironment associated with PF. Thus we hypothesize that LBP has the capability to influence biological functions of fPMSCs by regulating autophagy in PF pathological microenvironment, and elevate therapeutic potential of placental mesenchymal stem cells in pulmonary fibrosis models. Based on these results, the present project is designed to accomplish the following works: 1. to ascertain the regulatory relationship between LBP and autophagy of fPMSCs in PF pathological microenvironment; 2. to analyze the effects and mechanism of autophagy mediated by LBP in regulating biological functions of fPMSCs; 3. to clarify whether autophagy mediated by LBP influences the therapeutic effects of fPMSCs on PF and its potential principle. The results of these studies will partialy illustrate the functions and mechanism of fPMSCs’ properties regulated by LBP in a PF pathological microenvironment. This will provide the theoretical basis and experimental evidence for new strategies to optimize MSC treatment for PF.