Cellular aspects of MSC function

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are promising candidates for the treatment of GvHD and autoimmune diseases. However, their immunosuppressive mechanisms have not been fully elucidated.

Furthermore, MSCs have been discussed to harbor the risk of ectopic tissue formation as well as malignant transformation, which may limit their clinical use and also warrants extensive quality controls for genomic stability on each single batch. Therefore, we decided to focus on the immunosuppressive mechanism related to the CD39/CD73 pathway and to check whether gamma-irradiation would be a feasible procedure to increase their safety in clinical applications while preserving their immunosuppressive function.