Objectives: The present study aimed to explore the effect of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) on the modulation of T lymphocytes from system lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and the possible mechanism.
Methods: A total of 24 hospitalized SLE patients and 28 healthy individuals were enrolled. T lymphocytes were sorted using Miltenyi magnetic beads. After the addition of recombinant human interleukin (IL)-2 and CD3CD28 T-cell activator, cells were loaded onto six-well plates pre-inoculated or not with UC-MSCs for 1 week of culture. The supernatants were collected for testing inflammatory factors by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Meanwhile, T lymphocytes were collected to assess the expression levels of genes, proteins in relation to SLE and miR-181a by polymerase chain reaction and Western blot.
Results: Compared with T lymphocytes cultured alone, interferon-γ, IL-4, IL-6 and IL-10 levels were significantly decreased in T lymphocytes from SLE patients co-cultured with UC-MSCs. In addition, the gene and protein expression levels of TNF alpha, osteopontin and nuclear factor-kappa B in T lymphocytes were significantly decreased, while miR-181a expression was markedly elevated (p < 0.05 or 0.008).
Conclusion: UC-MSCs have showed certain immunomodulatory and inhibitory effects in vitro on T lymphocytes from SLE patients, which could potentially be a beneficial treatment of the disease. UC-MSCs may up-regulate miR-181a and down-regulate inflammation-related gene expression.
Keywords: Mesenchymal stem cells; T lymphocyte; miR-181a; systemic lupus erythematosus.