Clinical Trial of Allogeneic Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy for Chronic Active Antibody-Mediated Rejection in Kidney Transplant Recipients Unresponsive to Rituximab and Intravenous Immunoglobulin

Figure 5

Comparison of CCR6 + CCR4-, CCR6-CCR4+, and CCR6 + CCR4+ subpopulations of CD4+ T lymphocytes before and after MSC treatment. PBMCs were stained with anti-CD4 PE-Cy7-conjugated, anti-CCR4 PE-conjugated, anti-CCR6 APC-conjugated, and anti-IL-17 FITC-conjugated antibodies. CD4+ T cells were gated for further analysis. The proportions (%) of CCR6-CCR4+/CD4+ T cells, CCR6 + CCR4-/CD4+ T cells, and CCR6 + CCR4+/CD4+ T cells in each patient were determined. After surface staining with anti-CD4, anti-CCR4, and anti-CCR6 mAbs, analysis of IL-17 expression in CD4+ T cell subsets by intracellular flow cytometry was performed. The proportion (%) of IL-17+/CCR6 + CCR4 + CD4+ T cells in each patient was determined. “Before” indicates the results at the start of MSC treatment, and “After” indicates the results at 3 months after the final MSC infusion. MSCs: mesenchymal stem cells; PBMCs: peripheral blood mononuclear cells.