Adipose-tissue-derived and Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stromal cells suppress lymphocyte responses by secreting leukemia inhibitory factor.

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) possess immunomodulatory functions and have been proposed as a tool for managing or preventing graft-versus-host disease. Recently, adipose tissue (AT) and Wharton's jelly (WJ) have been reported as potential alternative MSC sources to bone marrow (BM). In this study, we investigated the capacity of MSCs derived from AT and WJ to modulate lymphocyte proliferation as well as their impact on regulatory T-cells. We also evaluated MSC expression of leukemia inhibitory factor and the role of this molecule in the mechanism of MSC-mediated inhibition. We demonstrated that WJ- and AT-MSCs induced a dose-dependent inhibition of T-cell proliferation regardless of the stimuli used to activate T-cells. WJ- and AT-MSCs were more potent than BM-MSCs in suppressing lymphocyte responses, and they mediated this effect by secreting high levels of leukemia inhibitory factor. We also observed that WJ- and AT-MSCs maintained and promoted the expansion of regulatory T-cells independently of the MSC/T-cell ratio. Because human WJ and AT contain MSCs with potent immunomodulatory capacities, they could represent an alternative to BM. Using WJ- and AT-MSCs in clinical therapies, such as the prevention and/or reduction of graft-versus-host disease and in the treatment of autoimmune diseases, is particularly promising. Further characterization of MSC physiological function

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

Browse all related research

Filter the research library by this study's title keywords, author, or publication year.