MCP-1 Priming Enhanced the Therapeutic Effects of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells on Contact Hypersensitivity by Activating the COX2-PGE2/STAT3 Pathway

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have become a promising treatment for inflammation-related diseases, and their therapeutic efficacy mainly depends on crosstalk between MSCs and inflammation. However, methods to improve the immunosuppressive efficiency of MSCs in different diseases still need to be developed. In this study, we investigated whether preconditioning MSCs with a disease-related inflammatory cytokine could increase their immunosuppressive properties and improve therapeutic efficacy. In a contact hypersensitivity (CHS) mouse model, inflammatory profile screening revealed that among all tested cytokines, monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) exhibited the most significantly increased level in the local microenvironment. As expected, MSCs preconditioned with MCP-1 (P-MSCs) exhibited an enhanced ability to downregulate proinflammatory cytokine secretion, induce regulatory T cells, inhibit T cell proliferation, and polarize M2-type macrophages. In vivo experiments showed that P-MSCs alleviated ear swelling and local proinflammatory cytokine production more effectively than control MSCs. Mechanistically, MCP-1 could significantly activate the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) signaling pathway and induce the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in MSCs. STAT3 inhibitor reversed the MCP-1-mediated enhancing of their immunosuppressive ability. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that CHS-related MCP-1 preconditioning enhanced the immunomodulatory effects of MSCs and improved their therapeutic efficacy in CHS. Enhancing the immunosuppressive efficacy of MSCs by preconditioning with certain disease-related inflammatory cytokines may provide a new strategy for MSC-based therapies for inflammatory diseases.