Fig. 4

Migration capacity of Ad-hMSCs is improved by rapamycin (Rapa) via increased expression of chemokine receptors. a mRNA expression of chemokine receptors in Ad-hMSCs treated with or without rapamycin. Surface expression of CCR1, CCR2, CCR3, CCR4, CCR7, CCR9, and CXCR4 on Ad-hMSCs was assessed by real-time PCR. Graphs represent the mean chemokine receptor expression of Ad-hMSCs treated with rapamycin (50 nM) compared with the negative control (untreated Ad-hMSCs), and bars represent the standard deviation (SD) from three independent experiments (n = 3). b Migration assay of Ad-hMSCs in response to CD4⁺ T cells. Two thousand Ad-hMSCs either untreated (left), treated with rapamycin (middle), or treated with bafilomycin (Bafilo) and Rapa (right) were placed in the top well of a chemotaxis chamber, with CD4⁺ T cells present in the bottom well. After 2 h, the migrating cells were counted. Representative images show the migrating Ad-hMSCs (upper panel). The bar graphs represent the numbers of migrating Ad-hMSCs as means ± SD (lower panel). c mRNA expression of IL-10 (left), IDO (middle), and TGF-β (right) of Ad-hMSCs was assessed by real-time PCR. Graphs represent the mean mRNA expression of Ad-hMSCs either untreated, treated with Rapa, or treated with Rapa and Bafilo. Error bar represents the SD from independent experiments (n = 3). ^*** P < 0.001. Ad-hMSCs adipose tissue-derived human mesenchymal stem cells