Human mesenchymal stem cells derived from umbilical cord and bone marrow exert immunomodulatory effects in different mechanisms
Yunejin Song, Jung-Yeon Lim, Taekyu Lim, Keon-Il Im, Nayoun Kim, Young-Sun Nam, Young‐Woo Jeon, Jong Chul Shin, Hyun Sun Ko, In Yang Park, Seok‐Goo Cho
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are an attractive tool to treat graft-versus-host disease because of their unique immunoregulatory properties. Although human bone marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs) were the most widely used MSCs in cell therapy until recently, MSCs derived from human umbilical cords (UC-MSCs) have gained popularity as cell therapy material for their ethical and noninvasive collection. AIM: To investigate the difference in mechanisms of the immunosuppressive effects of UC-MSCs and BM-MSCs. METHODS: ) and UC-MSCs or BM-MSCs were treated as cell therapies. RESULTS: inflammatory environment. Cyclooxygenase-2 and IL-10 were key factors in the immunomodulatory mechanisms of both MSCs. In addition, UC-MSCs inhibited more T helper 17 cells and induced more regulatory T cells than BM-MSCs. UC-MSCs and BM-MSCs exhibited similar effects on attenuating graft-versus-host disease. CONCLUSION: UC-MSCs and BM-MSCs exert similar immunosuppressive effects with different mechanisms involved. These findings suggest that UC-MSCs have distinct immunoregulatory functions and may substitute BM-MBSCs in the field of cell therapy.