The objective of this paper is to analyze the role of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) on the differentiation of T follicular helper (Tfh) cells in lupus-prone mice.
Bone marrow cells were isolated from C57BL/6 (B6) mice and cultured in vitro, and surface markers were identified by flow cytometry. Naïve CD4+ T cells, splenocytes and Tfh cells were isolated from B6 mice spleens and co-cultured with BM-MSCs. The proliferation and the differentiation of CD4+ T cells and Tfh cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. Lupus-prone MRL/Mp-lpr/lpr (MRL/lpr) mice were treated via intravenous injection with expanded BM-MSCs, the differentiation of Tfh cells was detected, and the relief of lupus nephritis was analyzed.