Cell Immunol. 2014 Dec 31;293(2):59-66. doi: 10.1016/j.cellimm.2014.12.003. [Epub ahead of print]

Investigation of immunomodulatory properties of Human Wharton's Jelly-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells after lentiviral transduction.

Amari A¹, Ebtekar M², Moazzeni SM¹, Soleimani M³, Amirabad LM⁴, Tahoori MT⁵, Massumi M⁶.

Abstract

Human Wharton's Jelly-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hWJ-MSCs) are considered as an alternative for bone-marrow-derived MSCs. These cells have immunosuppressive properties. It was unclear whether the WJ-MSCs would sustain their immunomodulatory characteristics after lentiviral transduction or not. In this study, we evaluated immunomodulatory properties of WJ-MSCs after lentiviral transduction. HWJ-MSCs were transduced with lentiviral particles. Expression of transduced and un-transduced hWJ-MSCs surface molecules and secretion of IL-10, HGF, VEGF and TGF-β was analyzed. Cell proliferation and frequency of CD4⁺CD25⁺ CD127^low/neg Foxp3⁺ T regulatory cells was measured. There was no difference between the surface markers and secretion of IL-10, HGF, VEGF and TGF-β in transduced and un-transduced hWJ-MSCs. Both cells inhibited the proliferation of PHA stimulated PBMCs, and improved the frequency of T regulatory cells. These findings suggest that lentiviral transduction does not alter the immunomodulatory function of hWJ-MSCs. However, lentiviral transduction may have a wide range of applications in gene therapy.