Carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester. cordCderived mesenchymal stem cell transplantation upregulates the regulatory T (Treg) cells. The alterations of Treg cells in different groups. peripheral blood, spleen. Figure S7. Specific staining of interferon-gamma (IFN-) in the liver section. Scale bar?=?32 m. Figure S8. Dynamic changes of engraftment umbilical cordCderived mesenchymal stem cell (UC-MSC) and galectin-9 (Gal-9) in the liver section. Scale bar?=?50 m. Abbreviation: 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole. (DOCX 779 kb) 13287_2018_979_MOESM1_ESM.docx (779K) GUID:?767345AD-CF41-4D99-94F1-C15845D82744 Additional file 2: Supplementary Materials and Methods. (DOCX 21 kb) 13287_2018_979_MOESM2_ESM.docx (21K) GUID:?D597166E-A2DB-4C54-9071-6A075DA1813E Data Availability StatementThe datasets used or analyzed (or both) during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Supporting data can be obtained from the Additional file 2. Abstract Background Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) play an anti-inflammatory role by secreting certain bioactive molecules to exert their therapeutic effects for disease treatment. However, the underlying mechanism of MSCs in chronic autoimmune liver diseasesprimary biliary cholangitis (PBC), for exampleremains to be elucidated. Methods Human umbilical cordCderived MSCs (UC-MSCs) were injected intravenously into 2-octynoic acid coupled to bovine serum albumin (2OA-BSA)-induced autoimmune cholangitis mice. Serum levels of biomarkers and autoantibodies, histologic changes in the liver, diverse CD4+?T-cell subsets in different tissues, and chemokine activities were analyzed. Moreover, we investigated galectin-9 (Gal-9) expression and its function in UC-MSCs. Results In this study, UC-MSC transplantation (UC-MSCT) significantly ameliorated liver inflammation, primarily by diminishing T helper 1 (Th1) and Th17 responses as well as modifying liver chemokine activities in experimental autoimmune cholangitis mice. Mechanistically, UC-MSCs significantly repressed the proliferation of CD4+ T cells and suppressed the differentiation of Th1 and Th17 cells, which was likely dependent on Gal-9. Furthermore, the signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling pathways were involved in the production of Gal-9 in UC-MSCs. Conclusions These results suggest that Gal-9 contributes significantly to UC-MSCCmediated therapeutic effects and improve our understanding of the immunomodulatory mechanisms of MSCs in the treatment of PBC. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13287-018-0979-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. for 1?min, and the remaining suspended cells were collected. Spleens were disrupted between two glass slides and suspended in 0.2% BSA/PBS. Mononuclear cells from the livers were isolated by gradient centrifugation using 40% and 70% Percoll (Sigma-Aldrich). Rabbit polyclonal to EpCAM Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were obtained by lysis of erythrocytes in the blood. The following antibodies were used: anti-CD4, anti-IL-17A, and anti-IFN- (eBioscience, San Diego, CA, USA). For intracellular cytokine staining, cells were stimulated with 20?ng/mL phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate plus 1?g/mL ionomycin at 37?C for 4C5?h in the presence of 5?g/mL brefeldin A (all from Enzo Life Science, Farmingdale, NY, USA). Then the cells were fixed and permeabilized with a fixation/permeabilization kit (Nordic-MUbio, Maastricht, Limburg, the Netherlands), followed by staining with anti-IFN- or anti-IL-17A. Data were acquired by a FACS Calibur flow cytometer (BD Biosciences, Mountain View, CA, USA) and were analyzed with FlowJo software (Tree Star, Ashland, OR, USA). Cell labeling with GFP To track the transplanted cells in vivo, UC-MSCs were labeled with green fluorescent protein (GFP) by lentivirus infection. Briefly, the pLV-CMV-GFP-Neo vector, PMD2.G and PSPAX2 packaging plasmids, and the X-treme GENE HP DNA Transfection Reagent (Roche, Basel, Switzerland) were added to 10% FBS Dulbeccos Modified Eagle Medium, mixed gently, and incubated at room temperature for 20?min. The mixture was added dropwise into 293?T cells in a 10-cm plate. After 48?h of incubation, the virus supernatant was collected and filtered by using a 0.45-mm filter. UC-MSCs were then infected with the virus. After being co-cultured for 48?h, the aminoglycoside antibiotic G418 (Gibco-BRL, Carlsbad, CA, USA) was added to the medium at a final concentration of 600?mg/mL to select UC-MSCs with a stable GFP expression. The UC-MSCs labeled with GFP were observed with a fluorescence Darunavir emission ratio at 530?nm by using an epifluorescence microscope and an excitation wavelength of 488?nm. Immunofluorescence For the immunofluorescence examination, liver tissues were OCT-embedded, snap-frozen, and cut into 3 m slides. Then slides were incubated with primary antibody overnight at 4?C. Primary antibodies were as follows: Gal-9 (1:200; abcam, Cambridge, MA, Darunavir USA). Slides were stained with 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) and then examined by fluorescence microscope. The scale bar of the picture at 200 magnification represents 50?m. Isolation and culture of na?ve CD4+ T cells Differentiation of murine Th1 and Th17 cells Darunavir was performed as previously described [34, 35]. Briefly, for Th1 cell differentiation, na?ve CD4+ T cells were purified from spleens by using a na?ve CD4+ T cell Isolation Kit (Stem Cell Technologies, Vancouver, BC, Canada) and were cultured in 2.5?g/mL anti-CD3 and 5?g/mL.