Role of STAT3 in Immunoregulatory Function of Human Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells.

Abstract 3637

Poster Board III-573

The one of the best curative treatment modality in hematologic malignancies is an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). However, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a major obstacle of allogeneic HSCT. BM derived human MSCs are known to have immunoregulatory effect in vitro and in vivo via inhibiting alloreactive T lymphocytes, leading to their clinical use for the prevention of GVHD in HSCT. However, the molecular mechanism of immunoregulatory effect of human MSCs is not fully understood. In this study, the signaling of immunoregulatory effect was investigated by co-culture of human MSCs with lymphocytes. The proliferation of allogeneic T cells was inhibited by MSCs. Among the STATs, STAT3 was a key molecule in MLR co-cultured with MSCs. STAT3 siRNA treated MSCs did not inhibit the lymphocyte proliferation. After MSCs were trasnsfected with STAT3 plasmid, the fraction of CD4⁺CD25⁺FOXP3⁺ cells (Treg cells) were increased, while the fraction of CD4⁺, CD8⁺, CD25⁺ was decreased. In addition, Th1-related cytokines (IL-2, IL-12 and INF-γ) and Th17-related cytokines (IL-6, IL-17 and IL-21) were down-regulated, and Th2-related cytokines (GATA-3, IL-4 and IL-10) were up-regulated in MLR co-cultured with STAT3-ablated MSCs, while vice versa in MLR co-cultured with STAT3-transfected MSCs. Furthermore, ELISA showed that concentration of Th1-related cytokine (IL-2) in the supernatant of MLR co-cultured with STAT3-ablated MSCs was higher than that of control; while concentration of Th2-related cytokine (IL-4) was lower than that of control. These results suggested that induction of Th1 to Th2 shift by MSCs might be mediated via STAT3 molecule. In summary, STAT3 may be an indispensable molecule in the immunoregulatory effect in human MSCs via modulation of regulatory T cells.