Therapeutic Efficacy of Cord Blood-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells for the Prevention of Acute Graft-Versus-Host Disease in a Xenogenic Mouse Model

Human mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have been successfully utilized for the treatment of refractory graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). Despite the large number of in vitro and in vivo models developed for clarifying their immunomodulatory properties, the mechanism of action of MSCs remains elusive and their efficacy controversial. Here, we tested the ability of cord blood-derived MSCs to alleviate the symptoms of GvHD induced by the injection of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells into NOD/SCID/γc− mice. In this in vivo xeno-GvHD model, we demonstrate that a single MSC injection is able to inhibit GvHD in terms of clinical signs and related mortality. We also show that in this model MSCs act by both immunomodulating T-cells and fostering recovery after irradiation. The translational impact of these findings could provide a reliable preclinical model for studying the efficacy, dosage, and time of administration of human MSCs for the prevention of acute GvHD.