Figure 4.

The obligatory role of CD73 and adenosine in the regulation of macrophage activity. When cocultivated with CD73^high pMSC, rat peritoneal macrophages (pMϕ) strikingly upregulated several anti-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-10, Arg-1, and VEGF, and downregulated proinflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α and IFN-γ, in comparison to the placebo control, while pMϕ cocultivated with CD73^−/− pMSC did not significantly alter the cytokine profile (a). Pretreatment of pMϕ with the selective antagonist of the A2b receptor of adenosine, PSB603, partially blocked the upregulation of IL-10 induced by CD73 pMSC (b) and restored the inhibitory effects on the TNF-α expression (c). ^∗ indicates p < 0.05 and ^∗∗ indicates p < 0.01. # indicates p < 0.01 compared to CD73^high pMSC.