英国卡迪夫大学Phil Stephens教授从面颊内膜组织培养出新的具有强大免疫抑制功能的口腔粘膜祖细胞，有望用于治理治疗免疫系统疾病。图片来自pressmaster / Fotolia。
来自英国卡迪夫大学牙医学院的Phil Stephens教授领导的一个研究小组，与来自瑞典斯德哥尔摩市卡罗林斯卡研究所(Karolinska Institute)的同事们，发现一类新的细胞---口腔粘膜祖细胞---拥有强大地抑制免疫系统作用的功能。这有可能为解决免疫系统疾病提供答案。相关研究结果发表在Stem Cells and Development期刊上。
尽管人体免疫系统能够抵抗很多疾病，但是它也能够产生有害的作用。免疫系统能够利用白细胞来攻击产生胰岛素的细胞，从而导致糖尿病产生或者导致身体排斥移植来的器官。
研究小组从病人脸颊内部提取口腔内膜细胞(oral lining cells)，然后让它们增殖。实验室测试表明这些细胞即便少量存在时也能够完全抑制白细胞。
这项突破表明面颊细胞(cheek cell)很有潜力在未来用于治疗免疫系统相关的疾病。现有的免疫系统研究集中在成体干细胞，特别是来自骨髓的那些干细胞。但是这些面颊组织细胞的作用效果更为强大。
研究小组的一个成员Lindsay Davies博士说，“到目前为止，这些只是在实验室中得到的结果。我们还没有在实验室外再现这种效果，因此根据这项研究要能够开发出有效的治疗方法仍需很多年。然而，这些口腔内膜细胞作用特别强大，有望用来治疗很多疾病。提取骨髓干细胞需要一种侵入性活组织检查的步骤，但是口腔内膜细胞容易提取，我们只需从口腔内部收集小块活组织。” (生物谷：towersimper编译)
doi:10.1089/scd.2011.0434
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Oral Mucosal Progenitor Cells Are Potently Immunosuppressive in a Dose-Independent Manner
Lindsay C. Davies, Helena Lönnies, Matthew Locke, Berit Sundberg, Kerstin Rosendahl, Cecilia Götherström, Katarina Le Blanc, Phil Stephens
Oral mucosal lamina propria progenitor cells (OMLP-PCs) are a novel, clonally derived PC population of neural crest origin with the potential to differentiate down both mesenchymal and neuronal cell lineages. In this study we aimed to determine the immunological properties of OMLP-PCs and to establish whether they would be suitable candidates for allogeneic tissue engineering and in the treatment of immune-related diseases. OMLP-PCs demonstrated no inherent immunogenicity with insignificant expression of costimulatory molecules (CD40, CD80, CD86, CD154, and CD178) or human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II. OMLP-PCs required 7 days of stimulation with interferon-γ (IFN-γ) to induce cell surface expression of HLA II. Mixed lymphocyte cultures and mitogen stimulation demonstrated the potent immunosuppressive capability of OMLP-PCs in a contact-independent manner. Complete inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation was seen at doses as low as 0.001% OMLP-PCs to responder lymphocytes, while annexin V staining confirmed that this immunosuppressive effect was not due to the induction of lymphocyte apoptosis. These data demonstrate, for the first time, that OMLP-PC immunomodulation, unlike that for mesenchymal stem cells, occurs via a dose- and HLA II–independent mechanism by the release of immunosuppressive soluble factors and suggests these cells may have wide ranging potential in future immune-related therapies.
