Fig. 5
Enhanced anti-Pseudomonal defense via neutrophil reconstitution by co-transplantation of MSCs and T cells in recipients of human HSCs. A Experimental timeline. NOD/SCID mice were given sub-lethal irradiation and then transplanted with PBS (as negative control) or different combinations of human HSCs, MSCs, and T cells. At 4 and 12 weeks after transplantation, mice were assessed for human Alu signal and quantified for reconstituted human HSCs, respectively. Subsequently, after 21 weeks of HSC reconstitution, mice were anesthetized with freshly prepared 2% avertin (0.019 mL/g) via intraperitoneal injection, followed by infection with a half-lethal dose (LD50) (~ 3 × 10 6 CFU, colony formation unit) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa for 1 day to induce acute pulmonary infection. Lung tissues were collected, and lung interstitial cells (mCD146+cells) were isolated and gated with hCD45 to determine the frequency of human CD45+MPO.+ cells (B). The expression levels of human IL-6 (C) and human IL-8 (D) in the sera collected from infected mice were examined via ELISA. E The lung tissues of infected groups were collected, disrupted with a tissue chopper, and plated on LB agar plates to calculate bacterial load (CFU). Data were expressed as mean ± S.E.M., and significant differences between groups were indicated (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01; two-sided unpaired t-test, ns, not significant)