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BMC Cancer

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Open Access 01-12-2016 | Research article

Mesenchymal stem cells enhance the metastasis of 3D-cultured hepatocellular carcinoma cells

Authors: Chang Liu, Yang Liu, Xiao-xi Xu, Xin Guo, Guang-wei Sun, Xiao-jun Ma

Published in: BMC Cancer | Issue 1/2016

Abstract

Background

Accumulating evidences have demonstrated that mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) could be recruited to the tumor microenvironment. Umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UCMSC) were attractive vehicles for delivering therapeutic agents against cancer. Nevertheless, the safety of UCMSC in the treatment of tumors including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was still undetermined.

Methods

In this study, an in vitro co-culture system was established to evaluate the effect of UCMSC on the cell growth, cancer stem cell (CSC) characteristics, drug resistance, metastasis of 3D-cultured HCC cells, and the underlying mechanism was also investigated.

Results

It was found that after co-cultured with UCMSC, the metastatic ability of 3D-cultured HCC cells was significantly enhanced as indicated by up-regulation of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP), epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related genes, and migration ability. However, cell growth, drug resistance and CSC-related gene expression of HCC cells were not affected by UCMSC. Moreover, EMT was reversed, MMP-2 expression was down-regulated, and migration ability of HCC cell was significantly inhibited when TGF-β receptor inhibitor SB431542 was added into the co-culture system.

Conclusions

Therefore, these data indicated that UCMSC could significantly enhance the tumor cell metastasis, which was due to the EMT of HCC cells induced by TGF-β.

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Title: Mesenchymal stem cells enhance the metastasis of 3D-cultured hepatocellular carcinoma cells
Authors: Chang Liu
Yang Liu
Xiao-xi Xu
Xin Guo
Guang-wei Sun
Xiao-jun Ma
Publication date: 01-12-2016
Publisher: BioMed Central
Published in: BMC Cancer / Issue 1/2016
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2407
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-016-2595-4

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Abstract

Background

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Conclusions

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