Immunomodulative efficacy of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells cultured in human platelet lysate

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are considered to be a promising tool for novel cell-based therapies. Clinical applications in solid organ transplantation were hampered by the dependence on animal serum for hMSCs clinical scale expansion until substitution with human platelet lysate (HPL) became a promising alternative. Therefore we focused on a direct comparison of immunomodulatory properties of hMSCs cultured in HPL or fetal calf serum (FCS). Phenotypic characterization, detection of cytokine secretion and effects on alloantigen- and mitogen-induced lymphocyte proliferation as well as degranulation of cytomegalovirus-specific cytotoxic T cells were applied in potency assays. We demonstrated that HPL-cultured MSCs have comparable immunomodulatory capacities to their FCS-cultured counterparts. The observed immunomodulatory properties include a beneficial inhibitory effect on immune cell proliferation and an unaffected viral T cell immunity. Thus, culturing hMSCs in HPL generates an efficient and safe expansion combined with intriguing immunomodulatory properties making these cells an attractive cell therapeutic tool.