Fig. 4

Inhibition of PGE2 and IDO increased the proliferation of CD4 + T cells. MenSCs were primed with IFN-γ and IL-1β before co-culture with CD4 + T cells. CFSC-labeled purified CD4 + T cells were then co-cultured with MenSCs at 1:8 ratio and activated with T cell activation beads. Different blockers including anti-IL-6, anti-IL-10, anti-TGF-β, indomethacin, 1 methyl tryptophan (1-MT) or their double combinations were added to the MenSCs-T cell co-cultures. The proliferation of T cells was then tested after five days by flow cytometry and compared to the extent of T cells which co-cultured withonly IFN-γ-/IL-1β-treated-MenSCs (A). Data were expressed as mean ± SEM of 12 experiments. The amount of IFN-γ and IL-10 in MenSCs-T cell co-culture was assessed by flow cytometry. Gating strategy is shown in panel (B) and representative flow cytometry dot plots are shown in (C). T cells cultured in the absence of MenSCs served as biological control (BC). The data obtained from each group were compared with biological control. The results were displayed as mean ± SEM of 8 different experiments. The signs (*), (**), (***), and (****) stand for p < 0.0332, p < 0.0021, p < 0.0002, and p < 0.0001, respectively