FIGURE 3.
Induction of immune mediators and growth factors upon stimulation with pro-inflammatory cytokines. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) were stimulated with tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-1β (20 ng·mL−1 each) or plain culture medium as a negative control (NC) during 6 h. a) mRNA expression of immune mediators and growth factors, normalised for housekeeping genes, shown for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (circles) and non-COPD donors (squares). AREG: amphiregulin; HBEGF: heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor; FGF2: fibroblast growth factor 2; ADM1: adrenomedullin; CCL20: chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 20; IL6: IL-6; CXCL8: chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 8; TSG6: TNF-stimulated gene 6. Individual data are shown in graphs, horizontal bars represent mean. *: p<0.05, n=9 per group. b) IL-6 and IL-8 protein secretion by MSCs from COPD and non-COPD donors, assessed 24 h after addition of TNF-α and IL-1β. Individual data points are shown; horizontal bars represent mean. *: p<0.05, n=9 per group.