BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease presents with two different phenotypes: chronic bronchitis and emphysema with parenchymal destruction. Decreased expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and increased endothelial cell apoptosis are considered major factors for emphysema. Stem cells have the ability of vascular regeneration and function as a repair mechanism for the damaged endothelial cells. Currently, minimally invasive interventional procedures such as placement of valves, bio-foam or coils are performed in order to improve the disturbed mechanical function in emphysema patients. However, these procedures cannot restore functional lung tissue. Additionally stem cell instillation into the parenchyma has been used in clinical studies aiming to improve overall respiratory function and quality of life.METHODS: In our current experiment we induced emphysema with a DDMC non-viral vector in BALBC mice and simultaneously instilled stem cells testing the hyposthesis that they might have a protective role against the development of emphysema. The mice were divided into four groups: a) control, b) 50.000 cells, c) 75.000 and d) 100.000 cells.RESULTS: Lung pathological findings revealed that all treatment groups had less damage compared to the control group. Additionally, we observed that emphysema lesions were less around vessels in an area of 10 μm.CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that stem cell instillation can have a regenerative role if applied upon a tissue scaffold with vessel around.VIRTUAL SLIDES: The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/13000_2014_195.