Transplant Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.
Immunol Res. 2018 Feb;66(1):207-218. doi: 10.1007/s12026-017-8973-4.
Among the particular immunomodulation properties of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), one relies on their capacity to regulatory T cell (Treg) induction from effector T cells. Stable expression of Foxp3 has a dominant role in suppressive phenotype and stability of induced regulatory T cells (iTregs). How MSCs induce stable Foxp3 expression in iTregs remains unknown. We previously showed MSCs could enhance demethylation of Treg-specific demethylated region (TSDR) in iTregs in cell-cell contact manner (unpublished data). Here, we evaluated the possible effect of MSCs on the mRNA expression of Runx complex genes (Runx1, Runx3, and CBFB) that perch on TSDR in iTregs and play the main role in suppressive properties of Tregs, a regulatory pathway that has not yet been explored by MSCs. Also, we investigated the mRNA expression of MBD2 that promotes TSDR demethylation in Tregs. We first showed that in vitro MSC-iTreg induction was associated with strong mRNA modifications of genes involved in Runx complex. We next injected high doses of MSCs in a murine model of C57BL/6 into Balb/C allogeneic skin transplantation to prolong allograft survival. When splenocytes of grafted mice were analyzed, we realized that the Foxp3 expression was increased at day 5 and 10 post-graft merely in MSC-treated mice. Furthermore, Foxp3 mRNA expression was associated with modified Runx complex mRNA expression comparable to what was shown in in vitro studies. Hence, our data identify a possible mechanism in which MSCs convert conventional T cells to iTreg through strong modifications of mRNA of genes that are involved in Runx complex of Foxp3.
间充质干细胞(MSCs)的特殊免疫调节特性之一依赖于其从效应 T 细胞诱导调节性 T 细胞(Treg)的能力。Foxp3 的稳定表达在诱导调节性 T 细胞(iTreg)的抑制表型和稳定性中具有主导作用。MSCs 如何在 iTregs 中诱导稳定的 Foxp3 表达仍然未知。我们之前曾表明,MSCs 可以通过细胞间接触方式增强 iTregs 中 Treg 特异性去甲基化区域(TSDR)的去甲基化(未发表数据)。在这里,我们评估了 MSCs 对 iTregs 中 TSDR 上的 Runx 复合物基因(Runx1、Runx3 和 CBFB)mRNA 表达的可能影响,这些基因在 Tregs 的抑制特性中起主要作用,这是 MSCs 尚未探索的调节途径。此外,我们还研究了促进 Tregs 中 TSDR 去甲基化的 MBD2 的 mRNA 表达。我们首先表明,体外 MSC-iTreg 诱导与参与 Runx 复合物的基因的强烈 mRNA 修饰有关。接下来,我们在 C57BL/6 向 Balb/C 同种异体皮肤移植的小鼠模型中注射高剂量 MSCs,以延长移植物的存活时间。当分析移植小鼠的脾细胞时,我们意识到仅在 MSC 处理的小鼠中,移植后第 5 天和第 10 天 Foxp3 的表达增加。此外,Foxp3 mRNA 表达与体外研究中所示的类似的修饰的 Runx 复合物 mRNA 表达相关。因此,我们的数据确定了一种可能的机制,即 MSCs 通过强烈修饰参与 Foxp3 的 Runx 复合物的基因的 mRNA 将常规 T 细胞转化为 iTreg。