Immunological aspects of allogeneic and autologous mesenchymal stem cell therapies.

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 stem cells (MSCs) have potential for therapeutic application as an immunomodulatory and regenerative agent. The immunogenicity and survival of MSCs after infusion are, however, not clear and evidence suggests that allogeneic but also autologous MSCs disappear rapidly after infusion. This may be associated with the susceptibility of MSCs to lysis by natural killer (NK) cells, possibly a result of culture-induced stress. In the present study we examined whether NK cell-mediated lysis of MSCs could be inhibited by immunosuppressive drugs. Human MSCs were isolated from adipose tissue and expanded in culture. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were activated with interleukin (IL)-2 (200 U/ml) and IL-15 (10 ng/ml) for 7 days. CD3(-)CD16(+)CD56(+) NK cells were then isolated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting and added to europium-labeled MSCs for 4 hr in the presence or absence of immunosuppressive drugs. Lysis of MSCs was determined by spectrophotometric measurement of europium release. Nonactivated NK cells were not capable of lysing MSCs. Cytokine-activated NK cells showed upregulated levels of granzyme B and perforin and efficiently lysed allogeneic and autologous MSCs. Addition of tacrolimus, rapamycin or sotrastaurin to the lysis assay did not inhibit MSC killing. Furthermore, preincubation of activated NK cells with the immunosuppressive drugs for 24 hr before

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.