Fig. 1

Assessment of doubling time and immunoprivilege of MSCs. a Population doubling of MSCs at different passages was determined using trypan blue cell viability assay. The cells were plated in equal numbers followed by calculating the live cell number after 96 h of culture. There was no significant difference found in population doubling time of cells at different passages. b, c MSCs were cocultured with leukocytes (with or without E06 blocking antibody) for 72 h at a ratio of 1:10 (MSCs:leukocytes). b Leukocyte-mediated cytotoxicity in MSCs at different passages was determined by cytotoxicity assay kit using flow cytometry. There was no significant difference found in the level of cytotoxicity at different passages in the presence of leukocytes alone or in the presence of leukocytes and E06 antibody. c Western blot analysis was performed to determine the levels of the pro- and antiapoptotic proteins Bax and Bcl-xL. There was no significant difference observed in the Bax/Bcl-xl ratio in MSCs at different passages in the presence of leukocytes alone or in the presence of leukocytes and E06 antibody. Data are represented as mean ± SD (n = 3–6). ML, MSCs + leukocytes; MLA, MSCs + leukocytes + E06 antibody; MSC, mesenchymal stem cells