Immunomodulatory effects of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells on the gene expression of major transcription factors of T cell subsets.

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)

It has been proposed that the immunomodulatory properties of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) play a crucial role in establishing and leading T lymphocytes, especially Th cell subsets, toward different functional subsets. To determine the effect of the immunomodulatory and regulatory functions of adipose-derived MSCs (AD-MSCs) on C57BL/6 spleen-isolated mononuclear cells (Spleen-MNCs), the gene expression of well-known effector and regulatory Th cell-related transcription factors, i.e., t-bet, GATA-3, Ror-γt and Foxp3, and their related cytokines, i.e., IFN-γ for Th1 cells, IL-4 for Th2 cells, IL-17 for Th17 cells and IL-10 and TGF-β for regulatory T cells, was studied using a co-culture condition system. The proliferation index of Spleen-MNCs was analyzed using a cell proliferation assay kit that utilized the CFSE staining method. Our findings indicate that AD-MSCs greatly impact the up-regulation of immunomodulatory cytokines, such as TGF-β (p<0.001), and the down-regulation of inflammatory cytokines, such as IFN-γ (p<0.005), and transcription factors, such as t-bet (p<0.001). Considering the immunomodulatory effects of MSCs in the differentiation of Th cell subsets, understanding and harnessing this property of MSCs could be a powerful strategy in the treatment of inflammatory autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis.

Evidence level

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

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