Fig. 1

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) attenuated the severity of skin sclerodermatous graft-versus-host disease (Scl-GVHD) but exacerbated pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis. a BALB/c mice transplanted with T cell-depleted bone marrow (TCD-BM) and spleen cells from B10.D2 mice had chronic dermatitis and an increased average skin score (Scl-GVHD). However, mice receiving human bone marrow (Scl-GVHD + hBM MSCs)- or adipose tissue (Scl-GVHD + hAD MSCs)-derived hMSCs had markedly decreased chronic dermatitis and skin scores. BALB/c mice transplanted with cells from B10.D2 TCD-BM (non-GVHD control) did not show dermatitis or hair loss. b Paraffin-embedded tissue sections were stained with H&E (original magnification × 100) for microscopic examination. c Masson’s trichrome staining (original magnification × 100) for assessing fibrosis. d mRNA expression of collagen 1 α1, 1 α2, 3 α1, and soluble collagen were measured on day 14 (upper panel) and day 28 (lower panel) after transplantation. e–g Immunohistochemical staining of MMP1 (e), PTEN (f), and pSmad-3 (g) was quantified on day 14 after transplantation. Original magnification, × 200. Each value indicates the mean ± SEM of 4–9 mice per group. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001