Allogeneic ADSCs induce CD8 T cell-mediated cytotoxicity and faster cell death after exposure to xenogeneic serum or proinflammatory cytokines

This study examined the induction of recipient T-cell cytotoxicity after exposure to allogeneic adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs). ADSCs pre-exposed to xenogeneic serum significantly induced cytotoxicity through CD8 T-cell granzyme B secretion after allogeneic antigen stimulation, and this effect was increased with prolonged reaction time. ADSCs pretreated with proinflammatory cytokines also induced cytotoxicity through granzyme B secretion and significantly increased human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-ABC expression. T-cell cytotoxicity towards ADSCs grown in xeno-free medium (XF-ADSCs) was lower than that towards ADSCs exposed to xenogeneic serum or proinflammatory cytokines, but XF-ADSCs still induced cytotoxicity. We further investigated the causes of T-cell cytotoxicity towards XF-ADSCs. XF-ADSC death was effectively inhibited by HLA-blocking antibodies, suggesting that ADSC HLAs are a major cause of alloreactive T-cell generation. These results indicated that culturing of allogeneic ADSCs with recipient serum may alleviate alloreactive CD8 T-cell cytotoxicity. Ultimately, development of therapeutic agents using autologous ADSCs would be a suitable way to avoid immunogenicity and CD8 T cell-mediated cytotoxicity, but more attention should be paid to the potential immunogenicity of allogeneic ADSCs, which could perhaps be mitigated through the use of immunosuppressants.