Mesenchymal Stem Cells Induced In Vitro Generated Regulatory-T Cells: Potential Soldiers of Transplantation Biology

Introduction: CD4+ regulatory T-cells that constitutively express CD25 have a potent mechanism of action of immunomodulation and hence hold a great therapeutic potential for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and tolerance induction in the context of solid organ transplantation. Methods: For in vitro generation of Tregs volunteer donor’s adipose tissue was resected and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) were generated. MSC were co-cultured with post-renal transplantation recipient’s peripheral blood derived peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and with irradiated PBMC from same recipient with the addition of exogenous IL-2. Controls were carried out without use of MSC. In vitro generated Tregs were subjected for quantitative and qualitative analysis of Tregs specific markers. Results: Quantitative analysis revealed increased cell counts of Tregs in comparison to PBMC. Tregs specific markers evaluation using flocytometer showed rise in all Treg specific cell population: CD4+25+127Neg with mean 7.6 ± 6.1%, CD4+FoxP3+ mean of 21.7 ± 15.3% and CD4+CTLA-4+ mean of 16.9 ± 13.7%. Conclusion: We conclude that MSC induce in vitro generation of Tregs. In vitro generated Tregs hold a great promise as “magic bullet” for various disease prevention and/or treatment.