Fig. 3

Human iPSC-MSCs inhibited Th17 level at 4 h post-challenge in a mouse model of steroid-resistant airway inflammation. a Representative gating strategies of flow cytometry analysis for T helper cells in mouse lung tissues. b Representative dot plots showing the percentages of Th1/Th2/Th17 cells in CD4⁺ T cells in different groups. c Statistical analysis of T helper cell percentages in lung CD4⁺ T cells. The percentage of Th17 but not Th1 and Th2 was significantly increased in neutrophilic airway inflammation. Both Th1 and Th17 were resistant to DEX and only Th2 was sensitive to DEX. iPSC-MSCs decreased both Th2 and Th17 cell levels while increased Th1 cell level in the model mouse. d-e Statistical analysis of IFN-γ and IL-17A levels in BALF. f The levels of total protein in BALF at 4 h post-challenge. g-i Statistical analysis of Gata-3, RORγt and T-bet levels in the lung tissues. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 by the Mann-Whitney U test. Abbreviations: BALF bronchoalveolar lavage fluids, DEX dexamethasone, iPSC-MSCs induced pluripotent stem cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells, ns not significant, PBS, phosphate-buffered saline, OVA ovalbumin. n = 5 for PBS/PBS/PBS and OVA/OVA/PBS, n = 6 for OVA/OVA/DEX and OVA/OVA/MSC