Cross Talk between Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells and Innate Immunocytes Concerning Lupus Disease

Lupus is known as a systemic immune-mediated disorder. Like other diseases in this category, its cause and definitive treatment remain unknown. Gold standard therapies, which mainly include immunosuppressive agents, have been able to have therapeutic effects on patients. However, a significant percentage of cases still do not respond to this kind of treatment, resulting in death from complications. Recently, a new source of non-hematopoietic cells, mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs), with the potency to re-establishment immune homeostasis and tissue regeneration, has been wildly used in both primary and clinical research. One of the remarkable features of MSCs is their anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive properties and stimulating tissue differentiation programs. Under the influence of background signals, MSCs migrate to inflammatory bioactive substances and then regulate overactive immune responses to restore immune tolerance. MSCs have shown a two-way interaction with most immunocytes, which plays a significant role in resolving sterile inflammation. Restricting the entry of inflamed cells into the site of inflammation and re-educated infiltrated cells to achieve a tolerant phenotype have been reported as mechanisms of MSCs in tissue repair. Stimulation of the endogenous and tissue-dwelling stem cells in addition to releasing immunomodulatory agents, suggests MSCs transplantation as a potential modality in the treatment of future immune-mediated disorders.