Withaferin-A alleviates acute graft versus host disease without compromising graft versus leukemia effect.

Acute graft versus host disease (aGvHD) contributes to a significant proportion of non-relapse mortality and morbidity in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT). Withaferin-A (WA), a phytomolecule obtained from Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha), is known to have anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative and immunomodulatory properties. The efficacy of WA for the prevention and treatment of aGvHD was evaluated using a murine model of alloHSCT. Prophylactic administration of WA to mice mitigated the clinical symptoms of aGvHD and improved survival significantly compared to the GvHD control [HR = 0.07 (0.01-0.35); P < 0.001]. Furthermore, WA group had better overall survival compared to standard prophylactic regimen of CSA + MTX [HR = 0.19 (0.03-1.1), P < 0.05]. At the same time, WA did not compromise the beneficial GvL effect. In addition, WA administered to animals after the onset of aGvHD could reverse the clinical severity and improved survival, thus establishing its therapeutic potential. Our findings suggest that WA reduced the systemic levels of Th1, Th2 and Th17 inflammatory cytokine and increased the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 levels significantly (P < 0.05). WA also inhibited lymphocytes migration to gut, liver, skin and lung and protected these organs from damage. Ex-vivo, WA inhibited proliferation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (hPBMCs), modulated immune cell phenotype and decreased cytokine release. In addition, WA inhibited pJAK2 and pSTAT3 protein levels in mouse splenocytes and hPBMCs. In conclusion, our study demonstrates the utility of WA for the prevention and treatment of aGvHD, which should be further evaluated in a clinical setting.

Future Perspectives of Wharton's Jelly Mesenchymal Stem Cells and their Soluble Factors in Radioprotection.

Acute radiation syndrome (ARS) is also known as triple syndrome, which develops after whole-body radiation exposure. During unforeseen exposures, these syndromes are set in depending on the dose of radiation. Cell-based therapy, especially using stem cells and their soluble factors, is gaining wide attention in the field of regenerative medicine to treat various diseases, including degenerative diseases. Stem cells attract prime attention because of their profound inherent tissue repair capability and regeneration potential. Further, stem cell therapy can be one of the promising strategies for the amelioration of ARS because of its ability to lodge in damaged tissue and release regenerative cytokines by sensing the local injury. In this regard, human Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hWJ-MSCs) have gained substantial attention for their applications in the treatment of various human diseases due to several advantages offered by them. This article is intended to provide future perspective on the use of WJ-MSCs for the management of accidental radiation injury in pre-clinical models, and finally, their utility in regeneration of damaged tissues and organs.

Differential modulation of mitogen driven proliferation and homeostasis driven proliferation of T cells by rapamycin, Ly294002 and chlorophyllin.

Homeostasis driven proliferation (HDP) of naïve CD4+ T cells depends upon T cell receptor ligation with self-MHC II along with availability of interleukin-7. But the exact nature of downstream signaling events involved in HDP of helper T cells remains elusive. To identify the specific involvement of signaling molecules in HDP, purified CD4+ T cells were treated with either mTOR inhibitor rapamycin or PI3kinase inhibitor Ly294002 or with an antioxidant chlorophyllin (CHL) in vitro. Rapamycin treated cells failed to proliferate, expressed anergic T cell specific transcription factor genes egr-2 and egr-3 and showed diminished IFN-gamma production in response to Con A stimulation in vitro. Although CHL treated cells also failed to proliferate, they showed a normal IFN-gamma production during primary stimulation and did not upregulate egr-2 and egr-3 genes following restimulation in vitro. Ly294002 treated cells failed to express IL-2 and IFN-gamma and did not divide in response to Con A stimulation in vitro. While all these inhibitors significantly inhibited CD4+ T cell proliferation in response to the mitogen in vitro, only CHL treatment could inhibit their HDP in lymphopenic mice. Our results also demonstrate that combined treatment with rapamycin and Ly294002 did not inhibit HDP of CD4+ T cells. Thus, the present study, for the first time, shows a non-essential role of mTOR and PI3kinase during HDP of CD4+ T cells and also describes its possible regulation by an antioxidant.