Fig. 2

Immunomodulatory properties of MSCs. At inflamed and injured tissue sites, MSCs can regulate the immune homeostasis and their immunomodulatory functions are predominantly exerted through directly or indirectly with innate and adaptive immune cells such as macrophages, neutrophils, natural killer (NK) cells, dendritic cells (DCs), T lymphocytes, and B lymphocytes, and thus suppressing the immune responses and inflammation to promote tissue homeostasis. In fact, different inflammatory environment can lead to markedly different response to MSC treatment, thus the ultimate immunomodulatory impact may be determined by the balance between anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory cytokines in the milieu in which MSCs present