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Updated: Jul 3, 2026
Development of Stem Cell-derived Antigen-specific Regulatory T Cells Against Autoimmunity
Published on: November 8, 2016
Development of rat antigen-presenting cells from pluripotent ecto-mesenchymal stem cells in vitro and in vivo
Shijie Hu1, Xuefeng Shen, Rong Zhang
1Institute of Neurosurgery, Xijing Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Shaanxi, China.
Dendritic cells (DC) are specialized cells that capture and present antigen to T cells. Recent advances have been made in understanding their origin, heterogeneity, and the signals that induce their migration and maturation resident microglia are antigen-presenting cells (APC) involved in stimulation or reactivation of CNS-targeted T cells. Generation of DC from microglia, as demonstrated ex vivo, may support GM-CSF-driven differentiation of brain DC from local, likely, microglial progenitors. Here, we report the establishment of long-term cultures of rat ecto-mesenchymal stem cells (EMSCs) using specific supplemented media for induction. These EMSCs share some morphological characteristics and the allostimulatory capacity of classical DCs, and when transplanted into the brain using a rat glioma model survive within the cortex, and are morphologically and phenotypically similar to microglia over 7 days. Our findings related to the development and differentiation of microglial progenitors support the view that microglia are derived prenatally from mesodermal progenitors that are distinct from monocytes.
Dendritic cells (DC) are specialized cells that capture and present antigen to T cells. Recent advances have been made in understanding their origin, heterogeneity, and the signals that induce their migration and maturation resident microglia are antigen-presenting cells (APC) involved in stimulation or reactivation of CNS-targeted T cells. Generation of DC from microglia, as demonstrated ex vivo, may support GM-CSF-driven differentiation of brain DC from local, likely, microglial progenitors. Here, we report the establishment of long-term cultures of rat ecto-mesenchymal stem cells (EMSCs) using specific supplemented media for induction. These EMSCs share some morphological characteristics and the allostimulatory capacity of classical DCs, and when transplanted into the brain using a rat glioma model survive within the cortex, and are morphologically and phenotypically similar to microglia over 7 days. Our findings related to the development and differentiation of microglial progenitors support the view that microglia are derived prenatally from mesodermal progenitors that are distinct from monocytes.
