Therapeutic Immune Modulation by Stem Cells

Genoa, Italy -

As more and more clinical data emerges in the area of stem cells, there will come a time when the medical community starts to appreciate aspects of stem cells that have little to do with regeneration.

One such aspect is the ability of stem cells to perform functions such as immune modulation. A recent study (Gerdoni et al. Mesenchymal stem cells effectively modulate pathogenic immune response in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Ann Neurol. 2007 Mar 23;61(3):219-227) seems to have predicted this.

The scientists used genetically labeled mesenchymal stem cells and administered the cells into a mouse model of multiple sclerosis. This model involves immunization with an autoantigen so as to evoke an immune response against components of the myelin sheath.

It was demonstrated that although the labelled mesenchymal stem cells didn not differentiate into neurons, there was less relapse in the treated mice. When treated mice were examined for immunological parameters, inflammatory cytokine production was reduced in an antigen-specific manner.

These data suggest that mesenchymal stem cells are capable of immune modulating in a therapeutic setting. The more important question is how to use such mesenchymal stem cells to ANTIGEN-SPECIFICALLY immune modulate. Simple administration of a tolerogenic stem cells such as mesenchymal stem cell may cause non-specific immune modulation. The key is how to balance this.