Fig. 4

Gene expression changes in inflammatory macrophages following exposure to unstimulated or inflammatory primed MSCs. Inflammatory macrophages co-cultured in a transwell setup with naïve MSCs, MSCs primed with polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (poly I:C), or MSCs primed with interferon gamma (IFN-γ). Only exposure to poly I:C-stimulated MSCs produced significant changes in macrophage expression of TNF-α, CXCL10, IL-6, and IL-10. Resultant changes in gene expression measured and compared to control inflammatory macrophages not exposed to MSCs using the 2^–ΔΔCT method. Box and whisker plots represent n = 8. Groups not sharing same uppercase letter are significantly different, p < 0.05; repeated-measures ANOVA, with horse as a random effect, followed by a Tukey HSD test for multiple comparisons. MSC mesenchymal stem cell, poly I:C polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid, IFN-γ interferon gamma, IL interleukin, TNF-α tumor necrosis factor alpha, CXCL10 C-X-C motif chemokine 10