Use of mesenchymal stem cells in treating immune-related diseases

A method of treating a subject having an immune-related disease, comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of a composition comprising activated mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), wherein the activated MSCs are made by incubating them with IFN-γ at a dose of 50-800 U/ml, wherein the activated MSCs have having an immunosuppressive protein binding value (IPBv) greater than 170 toward indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), and wherein the IPBv of the activated MSCs is determined by:

• (a) adding a first antibody to the MSCs, wherein the first antibody is specific to the IDO, and has a fluorescent molecule conjugated therewith;
• (b) providing a plurality of microbead populations, wherein each microbead in each population of the plurality of microbead populations has a second antibody coupled thereto, wherein the number of second antibodies coupled to each microbead in each population is the same within one population but is different from the number of coupled second antibodies in each different population in the plurality of populations, and wherein the second antibody is specific to the first antibody;
• (c) adding the MSC-first antibody composition made in step (a) to the mixture of microbead populations of step (b);
• (d) measuring the fluorescence intensity of each microbead population made in step (c);
• (e) constructing a calibration plot of the number of the second antibody coupled to the microbead populations as a function of the fluorescence intensity determined in step (d);
• and
• (f) determining the IPBv of the activated MSCs from the calibration plot of step (e) based on the fluorescence intensity determined in step (d).