title: Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells promote carcinoma growth and lymph node metastasis when co-injected with esophageal carcinoma cells in nude mice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Human umbilical cord blood derived-mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) offer an attractive alternative to bone marrow-derived MSCs (BMMSCs) for cell-based therapy as it is a less invasive source of biological material. However, limited studies have been conducted with hUCMSCs as compared to BMMSCs. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of hUCMSCs in esophageal carcinoma (EC).
  
  
  METHODS
  hUCMSCs together with EC cells were transplanted subcutaneously into BALB/c nude mice to observe the effects of hUCMSCs on tumor establishment. hUCMSCs injected through the caudal vein to the mice with pre-established EC to observe the effects of hUCMSCs on tumor outgrowth. In order to elucidate the underlying mechanisms, we also performed in vitro experiments including directly co-culture, transwell assay, proliferation assay and western blotting analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  hUCMSCs promoted EC formation in nude mice. In the in vivo model of pre-established EC, intravenously injected hUCMSCs potently promoted tumor growth. When in vitro co-cultured with hUCMSCs, EC cells proliferation increased. After co-cultured with hUCMSCs through transwell system, EC cells showed increased proliferation. Through transwell assay, we also observed that EC cells recruited MSCs, and MSCs promoted EC cells migration and invasion. Western blotting data showed that the expressions of proliferation related proteins Bcl-2, survivin and metastasis related proteins MMP-2 and MMP-9 were up-regulated in the EC cells transwell co-cultured with hUCMSCs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicated that hUCMSCs could favor tumor growth in vivo and in vitro. Thus, the exploitation of hUCMSCs in new therapeutic strategies should be cautious under the malignant conditions.
authors.affiliation: Blood Transfusion Department, The Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, 050082 Hebei P R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaoya
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Blood Transfusion Department, The Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, 050082 Hebei P R. China.
authors.forename: Zhu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Blood Transfusion Department, The Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, 050082 Hebei P R. China.
authors.forename: Yintu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Blood Transfusion Department, The Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, 050082 Hebei P R. China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Blood Transfusion Department, The Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, 050082 Hebei P R. China.
authors.forename: Surui
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Blood Transfusion Department, The Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, 050082 Hebei P R. China.
authors.forename: Yuhua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Blood Transfusion Department, The Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang, 050082 Hebei P R. China.
authors.forename: Gengyin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: Esophageal carcinoma; Mesenchymal stem cells; Metastasis; Tumor growth; Umbilical cord