Fig. 7

IL-1β-primed ERCs promoted the anti-inflammatory profile transformation through Wnt/β-catenin pathway activation. Wnt/β-catenin pathway is participating in regulating the development and differentiation of immunocytes and exhibiting anti-inflammatory effects in chronic disease. In the present study, DKK1 expression in ERC turned to be decreased after priming with IL-1β. After infusing IL-1β-primed ERCs into colitis mice, it was found that the β-catenin expression in splenic and colonic tissues were strikingly increased. Moreover, the inflammatory profile (Th1, Th17, M1, IFN-γ, IL-17, TNF-α, and IL-6) was transformed into an anti-inflammatory state (Th2, Treg, M2, IL-4, and IL-10), which is in line with the β-catenin expression changes. Therefore, in this study, we hypothesize that downregulating DKK1 expression in ERCs could promote the wnt/β-catenin pathway activation in immune cells, which would enhance the anti-inflammatory properties and optimize the immunomodulatory effect of ERCs