Transfer of mesenchymal stem cell mitochondria to CD4(+) T cells contributes to repress Th1 differentiation by downregulating T-bet expression

BACKGROUND: Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells with strong tissue repair and immunomodulatory properties. Due to their ability to repress pathogenic immune responses, and in particular T cell responses, they show therapeutic potential for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, organ rejection and graft versus host disease. MSCs have the remarkable ability to export their own mitochondria to neighboring cells in response to injury and inflammation. However, whether mitochondrial transfer occurs and has any role in the repression of CD4(+) Th1 responses is unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this report we have utilized CD4(+) T cells from HNT TCR transgenic mice that develop Th1-like responses upon antigenic stimulation in vitro and in vivo. Allogeneic bone marrow-derived MSCs reduced the diabetogenic potential of HNT CD4(+) T cells in vivo in a transgenic mouse model of disease. In co-culture experiments, we have shown that MSCs were able to reduce HNT CD4(+) T cell expansion, expression of key effector markers and production of the effector cytokine IFNγ after activation. This was associated with the ability of CD4(+) T cells to acquire mitochondria from MSCs as evidenced by FACS and confocal microscopy. Remarkably, transfer of isolated MSC mitochondria to CD4(+) T cells resulted in decreased T cell proliferation and IFNγ production. These effects were additive with those of prostaglandin E2 secreted by MSCs. Finally, we demonstrated that both co-culture with MSCs and transfer of isolated MSC mitochondria prevent the upregulation of T-bet, the master Th1 transcription factor, on activated CD4(+) T cells. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrates that transfer of MSC mitochondria to activated CD4(+) T cells results in the suppression of Th1 responses in part by downregulating T-bet expression. Furthermore, our studies suggest that MSC mitochondrial transfer might represent a general mechanism of MSC-dependent immunosuppression. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13287-022-03219-x.