Liposome‐mediated transfection with extract from neonatal rat cardiomyocytes induces transdifferentiation of human adipose‐derived stem cells into cardiomyocytes

Enhanced activity of doxorubicin in drug resistant A549 tumor cells by encapsulation of P-glycoprotein inhibitor in PLGA-based nanovectors

Effective chemotherapy remains an important issue in the treatment of drug resistant cancer. The aim of the present study was to establish novel polymeric nanoparticles composed of the antitumor drug, doxorubicin (DOX), and an inhibitor of the drug efflux pump-associated protein, P-glycoprotein (P-gp), in order to overcome drug resistance in tumor cells. Poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA), DOX-loaded PLGA (PLGA-DOX), P-gp inhibitor (cyclosporin A; CsA)-coated PLGA (PLGA-CsA) and DOX and CsA co-loaded PLGA (PLGA-DOX-CsA) nanoparticles were prepared using solvent evaporation. The size distribution, ζ potential and electron microscopy observations of the nanoparticles were characterized. Accumulation and efflux assays were performed using confocal and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), and the pump activity of P-gp was detected through FACS. The uptake of the nanoparticles and the viability of Taxol-resistant A549 cells treated with various nanoparticles were analyzed via FACS in vitro. Furthermore, the tumor growth and survival rates of A549-Taxol-bearing mice were monitored in vivo. Prepared particles were nanosized and the efflux rates of PLGA-DOX and PLGA-DOX-CsA were significantly decreased compared with the free DOX. Drug efflux pump activity was effectively inhibited by the PLGA-CsA and PLGA-DOX-CsA groups compared with the PLGA, PLGA-DOX and free DOX groups. Cell viability results demonstrated that PLGA-DOX and PLGA-DOX-CsA induced the increased death of A549-Taxol cells. In vivo tumor models demonstrated that PLGA-DOX and PLGA-DOX-CsA markedly inhibited the tumor growth and improved the survival rate of A549-Taxol-bearing mice. Antitumor drug and drug efflux pump inhibitor co-loaded nanoparticles offer advantages to overcome the drug resistance of tumors and highlight new therapeutic strategies to control drug resistant tumors.

Interleukin-8 derived from local tissue-resident stromal cells promotes tumor cell invasion

The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of adipose tissue resident stromal cells on tumor cell invasion. Our data show that a subpopulation of adipose tissue derived stromal cells expressing Nestin, NG2, α-smooth muscle actin and PDGFR-α migrate toward the cancer cells. Microarray analysis revealed the upregulation of IL-8 in the migrated cells. We demonstrated that stromal cell derived IL-8 promote the invasion and the anchorage-independent growth of cancer cells. We conclude that human breast cancer cells attract a subpopulation of stromal cells that secrete IL-8 to promote tumor cell invasion in a paracrine fashion.

Human cardiac tissue induces transdifferentiation of adult stem cells towards cardiomyocytes

BACKGROUND AIMS

The goal was to induce the transdifferentiation (or conversion) of human adipose-derived stem cells to cardiomyocytes using an intracellular extract obtained from adult human heart tissue.

METHODS

Human adult stem cells from lipoaspirates were transiently permeabilized, exposed to human atrial extracts and allowed to recover in culture.

RESULTS

After 21 days, the cells acquired a cardiomyocyte phenotype, as demonstrated by morphologic changes (appearance of binucleate, striated cells and branching fibers), immunofluorescence detection of cardiac-specific markers (connexin-43, sarcomeric alpha-actinin, cardiac troponin I and T, and desmin) and the presence of cardiomyocyte-related genes analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (cardiac myosin light chain 1, alpha-cardiac actin, cardiac troponin T and cardiac beta-myosin).

CONCLUSIONS

We have demonstrated for the first time that adult cardiomyocytes obtained from human donors retain the capacity to induce cardiomyocyte differentiation of mesenchymal stromal cells. The use of autologous extracts for reprogramming adult stem cells may have potential therapeutic implications for treating heart disease.

Tissue-resident stem cells promote breast cancer growth and metastasis

Mesenchymal stem cells derived from bone marrow have recently been described to localize to breast carcinomas and to integrate into the tumor-associated stroma. In the present study, we investigated whether adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ASCs) could play a role in tumor growth and invasion. Compared with bone marrow-derived cells, ASCs as tissue-resident stem cells are locally adjacent to breast cancer cells and may interact with tumor cells directly. Here, we demonstrate that ASCs cause the cancer to grow significantly faster when added to a murine breast cancer 4T1 cell line. We further show that breast cancer cells enhance the secretion of stromal cell-derived factor-1 from ASCs, which then acts in a paracrine fashion on the cancer cells to enhance their motility, invasion and metastasis. The tumor-promoting effect of ASCs was abolished by knockdown of the chemokine C-X-C receptor 4 in 4T1 tumor cells. We demonstrated that ASCs home to tumor site and promote tumor growth not only when co-injected locally but also when injected intravenously. Furthermore, we demonstrated that ASCs incorporate into tumor vessels and differentiate into endothelial cells. The tumor-promoting effect of tissue-resident stem cells was also tested and validated using a human breast cancer line MDA-MB-231 cells and human adipose tissue-derived stem cells. Our findings indicate that the interaction of local tissue-resident stem cells with tumor stem cells plays an important role in tumor growth and metastasis.