Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease characterized by inflammatory infiltration, demyelination and axonal injury. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are pluripotent which can not only differentiate into many types of cells, but also have immunomodulatory effects. We show here that the transplantation of bone marrow MSCs (BM-MSCs) prevents the development of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the most common animal model of MS. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the immunologic mechanism by which BM-MSC transplantation ameliorates EAE involves inhibiting the proliferation and activation of T cells, reducing the production of inflammatory cytokines, and regulating macrophage responses, especially the macrophage polarization. The findings broaden our understanding about the regulation of T cell and macrophage immune responses by MSC transplantation.

多发性硬化症（MS）是一种以炎症浸润，脱髓鞘和轴突损伤为特征的自身免疫疾病。间充质干细胞（MSCs）是多能的，不仅可以分化为多种类型的细胞，而且还具有免疫调节作用。我们在这里显示，骨髓MSC（BM-MSC）的移植阻止了实验性自身免疫性脑脊髓炎（EAE）的发展，MS是最常见的动物模型。此外，我们证明了BM-MSC移植改善EAE的免疫学机制涉及抑制T细胞的增殖和活化，减少炎性细胞因子的产生以及调节巨噬细胞反应，特别是巨噬细胞极化。