Human mesenchymal stem cells induce T cell anergy and downregulate T cell allo-responses via the TH2 pathway: relevance to tissue engineering human heart valves.

To generate an ''off the shelf'' tissue-engineered heart valve, the cells would need to be of allogeneic origin. Here, we report the possibility of using human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) as a suitable allogeneic cell source for tissue-engineered heart valves. Proliferative responses of primary and primed CD4+ T cells to allogeneic MSCs were examined.