Hematopoietic stem cells suppress proliferation and enhance differentiation of leukemia cells through regulating apoptotic and inflammatory genes

PurposeStem cells are known to play an important role in tumor treatment and many of them have shown tumor-suppressing ability in different cancers; however, whether hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have growth-inhibiting effects on leukemia cells has not been fully evaluated. Herein, we aimed to demonstrate the growth-restraining function of HSCs in acute leukemia treatment.MethodsCell fusion experiment was conducted by PEG-1500. The viability, proliferation, apoptosis and differentiation of leukemia cells were evaluated by cell counting, CCK-8 and flow cytometry analysis. The morphological changes were imaged using a fluorescence microscope. The expression of genes was detected by quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR).ResultsWe observed that HSCs and their lytic extracts had the capability to suppress leukemia cells proliferation, promote apoptosis and especially induce acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) cells differentiation, which might have an effect on differentiation therapy to leukemia especially AML treatment. The expression levels of Bcl-2, Survivin decreased and Bax increased following HSCs extracts treatment. Furthermore, the expression of inflammatory cytokines also changed in AML cells which might have to do with the mechanism of HSCs/extracts suppressing effect.ConclusionHSCs and their extracts can suppress the proliferation of leukemia cells and enhance the differentiation of AML cells and using the extracts of HSCs might be a probable therapeutic option for acute leukemia.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the role of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in acute leukemia treatment. The results showed that HSCs and their lytic extracts can inhibit the proliferation of leukemia cells and promote the differentiation of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) cells, which may have significant implications for the differentiation therapy of leukemia.