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Fig. 7 | Stem Cell Research & Therapy

Fig. 7

From: Human mesenchymal stromal/stem cells acquire immunostimulatory capacity upon cross-talk with natural killer cells and might improve the NK cell function of immunocompromised patients

Fig. 7

NK cells from severely injured patients exhibit impaired IFN-γ production, which is partially rescued by MSC-derived CCL2. a Purified NK cells from healthy donors and severely injured patients (n = 6) were stimulated with IL-12 and IL-18 for 24 h and the concentration of IFN-γ in the supernatants was determined. Horizontal lines indicate the median with interquartile range. b, c MSCs were treated with neutralizing antibodies against CCL2 or with the isotype control. Purified NK cells from patients were added to MSCs from healthy donors or were cultured alone. All cells were stimulated with IL-12 and IL-18 for 24 h and the concentration of IFN-γ in the supernatants was assessed. b Bar graph showing mean ± SD of 5 replicates from one representative experiment. c Scatter plot showing the individual values obtained from cells of six patients. Data were normalized to the values from NK cells alone stimulated in the presence of the isotype control (set as 100 %). Horizontal lines indicate the median with interquartile range. d, e NK cells isolated from patients were treated with conditioned media (CM) from NK cells, MSCs, MSC/NK cell co-cultures (all from healthy controls), and cell-free medium each in the presence of neutralizing antibodies against CCL2 or the isotype control. Thereafter, all cells were stimulated with IL-12 and IL-18. The release of IFN-γ into the supernatant was determined 24 h later. d Bar graph showing mean ± SD of 4 replicates from one representative experiment. e Scatter plot showing individual values obtained from NK cells of six patients. Data were normalized to the values from NK cells treated with “medium” (Med) and stimulated in the presence of the isotype control (set as 100 %). Horizontal lines indicate the median with interquartile range. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann–Whitney U test (a), one-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni multiple comparison test (b, d) or Wilcoxon signed-rank test (c, e). ***p < 0.001, **p < 0.01, *p < 0.05. MSC mesenchymal stromal/stem cell, NK natural killer, CCL2 C-C ligand 2, IFN interferon

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