Mesenchymal stem cells transfer mitochondria to allogeneic Tregs in an HLA-dependent manner improving their immunosuppressive activity

Cell-based immunotherapies can provide safe and effective treatments for various disorders including autoimmunity, cancer, and excessive proinflammatory events in sepsis or viral infections. However, to achieve this goal there is a need for deeper understanding of mechanisms of the intercellular interactions. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are a lymphocyte subset that maintain peripheral tolerance, whilst mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent nonhematopoietic progenitor cells. Despite coming from different origins, Tregs and MSCs share immunoregulatory properties that have been tested in clinical trials. Here we demonstrate how direct and indirect contact with allogenic MSCs improves Tregs’ potential for accumulation of immunosuppressive adenosine and suppression of conventional T cell proliferation, making them more potent therapeutic tools. Our results also demonstrate that direct communication between Tregs and MSCs is based on transfer of active mitochondria and fragments of plasma membrane from MSCs to Tregs, an event that is HLA-dependent and associates with HLA-C and HLA-DRB1 eplet mismatch load between Treg and MSC donors.