Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2018 Dec 9;507(1-4):30-35. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2018.10.133. Epub 2018 Nov 5.

Mesenchymal stem cells induced CD4+ T cell apoptosis in treatment of lupus mice.

Huang S¹, Wu S², Zhang Z³, Deng W⁴, Fan J⁵, Feng R⁶, Kong W⁷, Qi J⁸, Chen W⁹, Tang X¹⁰, Yao G¹¹, Feng X¹², Wang D¹³, Chen H¹⁴, Sun L¹⁵.

Abstract

Umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cell transplantation (UCMSCT) has been used to treat human autoimmune diseases like lupus for example, but little is known about its effect on cell apoptosis. Here we evaluated the efficacy of UCMSCT for lupus treatment and explored the mechanism by which mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) modulate T cell apoptosis in lupus mice. 1 × 10⁶ human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) were injected into B6.MRL-Fas^lpr (B6.lpr) mice via tail vein. 6 h, 24 h or 4 weeks later, the mice were sacrificed and the apoptosis of lymphocytes in peripheral blood and spleen were detected by flow cytometry. The immune cell subpopulations in spleen were also measured at 6 h and 24 h, respectively. The therapeutic effects were assessed after 4 weeks. The frequency of peripheral blood CD4+ T cell apoptosis was reduced in lupus-prone B6.lpr mice. UCMSCT alleviated the disease phenotypes in B6.lpr mice, decreased the ratio of Th1 as well as Th2 cells, and increased percentages of apoptotic CD4+ T cells in vivo and vitro. Collectively, our findings unravel that UCMSCT alleviate lupus disease and reverse immune imbalance possibly by promoting T cell apoptosis in B6.lpr mice.