Human heart, spleen, and perirenal fat-derived mesenchymal stem cells have immunomodulatory capacities

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have important tissue repair functions and show potent immunosuppressive capacities in vitro. Although usually isolated from the bone marrow, MSCs have been identified in other tissues, including the skin and liver. In the present study, we isolated and characterized MSCs from human heart, spleen, and perirenal adipose tissue. MSCs from these different tissue sites were similar to those derived from bone marrow in that they expressed comparable levels of the cell-surface markers CD90, CD105, CD166, and HLA class I, were negative for CD34, CD45, HLA class II, CD80, and CD86 expression, and were capable of osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation. Like bone marrow-derived MSCs, MSCs from these different tissue sources inhibited the proliferation of alloactivated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), giving 85%, 79%, 79%, and 81% inhibition, respectively. Also in line with bone marrow-derived MSCs they inhibited proliferative responses of PBMCs to phytohemagglutinin, a nonspecific stimulator of lymphocyte proliferation, and reduced-memory T lymphocyte responses to tetanus toxoid. The results of this study demonstrate that MSCs from various tissues have similar immunophenotypes, in vitro immunosuppressive properties, and differentiation potential.