Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are progenitor cells that give rise to connective tissue cells. MSC are present in adult mammalian tissues and can be isolated from the bone marrow1. Due to their immunomodulatory properties, these cells are widely studied2. Early studies focused on MSC regulation of T-cells3,4,5,6 but more recently, their regulation of macrophage cells (MΦ), a major cellular component of innate immunity, has received increased attention7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14. The importance of MSC-MΦ interaction in the treatment of inflammatory disease is underscored by the fact that depletion of monocytes/macrophages abrogates the therapeutic effects of MSC in animal models8. Here, the focus is the cell contact interaction of the MSC with MΦ. MSC have the capacity to regulate the phenotype of MΦ by promoting the switch from inflammatory to anti-inflammatory responses, leading to tissue repair activities8,9,10,11, and much has been done to demonstrate these regulatory mechanisms. Under other circumstances, MSC can support or exacerbate a MΦ-driven inflammatory response12,13 and enhance MΦ phagocytic activity14,15. However, there is a critical lack of existing data that identifies the mechanisms whereby and the conditions under which MSC regulate MΦ phagocytic activity.
MΦ have families of receptors that recognize either opsonized (antibody or complement coated) or non-opsonized pathogens leading to phagocytosis16. The activation and activity of the latter is less well studied17. In a non-inflammatory in vitro environment, MSC enhance MΦ phagocytosis of non-opsonized pathogens13. However, recognition of non-opsonized pathogens by MΦ may be reduced after exposure to an inflammatory environment produced by lymphocytes during an adaptive immune response. IFN-γ, released by natural killer cells and effector lymphocytes, has an inhibitory effect on MΦ phagocytosis of non-opsonized particles18. A co-culture model was developed to study the mechanisms of MSC direct contact regulation of MΦ phagocytosis. The goal of the experiment presented here is to determine whether MSC regulate MΦ phagocytosis of non-opsonized pathogens after MΦ have been exposed to IFN-γ (Figure 1).