Mouse Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Alleviate Perinatal Brain Injury Via a CD8+ T Cell Mechanism in a Model of Intrauterine Inflammation

The objective of this study was to determine if mouse bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) ameliorate preterm birth and perinatal brain injury induced by intrauterine inflammation (IUI). A mouse model of IUI-induced perinatal brain injury at embryonic (E) day 17 was utilized. BMMSCs were derived from GFP-transgenic mice and phenotypically confirmed to be CD44+, Sca-1+, CD45−, CD34−, CD11b−, and CD11c− by flow cytometry and sorted by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). Dams were assigned to four groups: phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) + PBS, PBS + BMMSCs, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) + PBS, and LPS + BMMSCs. Following maternal IUI, there was a significant increase in CD8+ T cells in the placentas. Maternally administered BMMSCs trafficked to the fetal side of the placenta and resulted in significantly decreased placental CD8+ T cells. Furthermore, fetal trafficking of maternally administered BMMSCs correlated with an improved performance on offspring neurobehavioral testing in LPS + BMMSC group compared with LPS + PBS group. Our data support that maternal administration of BMMSCs can alleviate perinatal inflammation-induced brain injury and improve neurobehavioral outcomes in the offspring via CD8+ T cell immunomodulation at the feto-placental interface.