Department of Communication & Public Affairs

University Affairs

Date: 01-14-08
Name: Zenaida Mendez
Phone: (973) 972-5000
Email: mendezze@umdnj.edu

UMDNJ Research Showing How Stem Cells from Bone Marrow Can Become Potently Immunosuppressive is Published in Cell Stem Cell

PISCATAWAY, NJ - A study by researchers at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School demonstrates that mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow can become potently immunosuppressive through concerted action of chemokines and nitric oxide.

Since immunosuppression is a key for treating autoimmune diseases, maintenance of organ transplants and cell therapies, the immunosuppressive property of mesenchymal stem cells offers hope for alleviating such diseases, said Dr. Yufang Shi, the study's lead investigator and Professor of Molecular Genetics, Microbiology and Immunology at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

His lab's research finding, reported in "Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Mediated Immunosuppression Occurs via Concerted Action of Chemokines and Nitric Oxide," appears in the current online issue of Cell Stem Cell, the official affiliated journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR). Guangwen Ren, a graduate student with the Department of Molecular Genetics, Microbiology, and Immunology at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, is the article's first author.

The study, which was supported mainly by the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology, looked at mesenchymal stem cells derived from bone marrow.

According to the study, when inflammation occurs, immune cells at the site of inflammation produce inflammatory mediators called cytokines. In response to these cytokines, which act as chemical messengers, adjacent mesenchymal stem cells become stimulated to produce chemokines and nitric oxide.

"Chemokines are small protein molecules that serve to attract other cells," Shi explained. "In this case, T cells will physically migrate close to the mesenchymal stem cells, where they encounter nitric oxide that suppresses their function.

"Since nitric oxide is an unstable gaseous molecule and breaks down very quickly, it can act only at very short range," Shi said. "So the chemokine-mediated attraction of T cells is very important."

This mechanism was found to operate in cell cultures and in vivo models of immune response, such as delayed-hypersensitivity, which is what occurs with poison ivy and tuberculosis infections, and graft-versus-host disease, a life-threatening complication that occurs in a large proportion of bone marrow transplant recipients.

There is a great potential to translate this finding into clinical settings, Shi said.

"These cells are easy to generate," he explained. "Since immunosuppression is the treatment for autoimmune diseases, such as Type I diabetes, arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis (MS); inflammatory bowel disease; organ transplantation and cell therapies, the immunosuppressive property of mesenchymal stem cells offers a great hope for clinically managing these diseases."

Since mesenchymal stem cells also exist in tumors, this mechanism also may contribute to immune unresponsiveness to cancer cells, Shi said.

To interview Dr. Yufang Shi, contact Zenaida Mendez at (973) 972-5000.

UMDNJ is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,700 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and a school of public health on five campuses. Annually, there are more than two million patient visits at UMDNJ facilities and faculty practices at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a statewide mental health and addiction services network.

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