The biological changes of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in inflammatory environment induced by different cytokines

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are used as therapeutic tool for the treatment of immune diseases. The inflammatory environment also influences the characteristics of MSCs after transplantation. The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of pro-inflammatory cytokines on the characteristics of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UCMSCs). UCMSCs were exposed to pro-inflammatory cytokines in vitro for 3 and 7 days, and the biological properties were analyzed. The results showed that the proliferation ability was suppressed by interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta). The adipogenic capacity was inhibited in all conditioned medium, while the chondrogenic and osteogenic capacity was enhanced by TNF-alpha and IL-1 beta in vitro. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) was increased by IL-1 beta on the third day, and angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) was inhibited appreciably by TNF-alpha on the seventh day. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) was increased by TNF-alpha and IL-1 beta, and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) was inhibited by all inflammatory cytokines. IFN-gamma secretion level from human peripheral mononuclear cells (hPBMCs) was lowered by UCMSCs which had been stimulated by TNF-alpha or IL-1 beta for 3 days. Moreover, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha secretion level was only inhibited by UCMSCs which had been by stimulated IFN-gamma for 3 days but not 7 days. Our data demonstrated that different inflammatory cytokines and the duration of treatment had different effects on the properties of UCMSCs, which might be instructive for clinical pretreatment in cellular therapeutics.