The Immunomodulatory Effect Of Triptolide On Mesenchymal Stem Cells In Vitro

Background: Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) are known to have the immunosuppressive ability and have been applied in clinic to treat acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), as one of severe complications after hematopoietic stem cells transplantation (HSCT) in Japan. However, MSC are activated to suppress the immune system only upon the stimulation of inflammatory cytokines and the clinical results of MSC therapies for acute GVHD are varied. It is ideal that MSC are primed to be activated and ready to suppress the immunity (=priming) before administration in vivo. Triptolide (TPL) is a diterpene triepoxide purified from a Chinese herb - Tripterygium Wilfordii Hook F (TWHF). It has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive properties in vitro. In this study, we aim to use TPL as the activator for umbilical cord-derived MSC (UC-MSC) to entry stronger immunosuppressive status.