Fig. 2

The effects of each priming strategy on the immunosuppressive potential of MSCs were measured by an in vitro functional potency assay following 48 h of priming. A normalized transformed proliferation index of 0% corresponds to the complete suppression of CD3⁺ T cell proliferation. A value of 100% indicates that the T cells proliferated equivalent to T cells co-cultured with unprimed MSCs (grey dashed horizontal lines). (a) Different priming strategies enhance the T cell suppressive capacity of MSCs. (b) Priming effects fade over time but are partially preserved by translationally relevant conditions. The proliferation control represents the proliferation of T cells in the absence of co-cultured MSCs. Data points represent averages ± standard deviations of the MSCs from three healthy donors. # indicate significant differences (p < 0.001, except unprimed vs. 3D culture primed p = 0.03) against all other conditions. § indicate significant differences (p < 0.001) against pro-inflammatory and 3D culture priming. *: p ≤ 0.05; **: p ≤ 0.01; ***: p ≤ 0.001