Mesenchymal Stem Cells Promote Metastasis of Lung Cancer Cells by Downregulating Systemic Antitumor Immune Response

Figure 3

Systemic injection of MSCs reduces the presence of immune cells and inflammatory cytokines in the lungs of LLC1-treated mice. Representative images of CD3, CD4, CD68, TNF-α, and IL-17 immunohistochemical staining on paraffin-embedded lung tissue sections obtained at the 28th day of the experiment (×20, ×40). (a) CD3+ cells, (b) CD4+ cells, and (c) CD68+ macrophages were present in higher numbers in lungs of LLC1-treated mice compared to LLC1 + MSCs and control groups. Expression of (d) TNF-α and (e) IL-17 in lung tissue was higher in lungs of LLC1-treated mice compared to LLC1 + MSC and control groups.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)