Abstract
Although mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have exhibited promising immunomodulatory potential in preclinical studies, clinical studies have revealed variable results. These results often depend on environmental cues. Pre-conditioning MSCs with cytokines is one of the methods used to enhance their immunomodulatory effects. In this study, we harvested adipose-derived MSCs from mice and cultured them with different doses of the cytokine, IFN-γ, and the corticosteroid drug, dexamethasone, in order to investigate their effects on MSC immunosuppressive function. We found the co-culture or supernatant of MSCs, pre-conditioned with IFN-γ, together with spleen mononuclear cells resulted in a significant reduction of mononuclear cell proliferation. Although the supernatant of MSCs, pre-conditioned with dexamethasone, showed similar results, dexamethasone pre-conditioning of co-cultured MSCs increased mononuclear cell proliferation. The results further our understanding of immune-related effects of MSCs which may provide a basis for further in vivo studies to achieve better clinical results. We propose that pre-conditioning with cytokines might be an effective method to boost the immunomodulatory effects of MSCs.