Neural precursors attenuate autoimmune encephalomyelitis by peripheral immunosuppression.

Objective: Intracerebroventricular or intravenous (IV) injection of neural precursor cells (NPCs) attenuates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the animal model of multiple sclerosis. Although stem cell therapy was introduced initially for cell replacement, we examine here whether NPCs possess immunomodulatory effects.

Methods: We examined the effects of systemic administration of NPCs on central nervous system (CNS) inflammation in EAE and the interactions between NPCs and T cells in vitro and in vivo.