PTEN-mRNA engineered mesenchymal stem cell-mediated cytotoxic effects on U251 glioma cells

• Published in: Oncology letters Vol. 11; no. 4; pp. 2733 - 2740
• Main Authors: GUO, XING RONG, HU, QIN YONG, YUAN, YA HONG, TANG, XIANG JUN, YANG, ZHUO SHUN, ZOU, DAN DAN, BIAN, LIU JIAO, DAI, LONG JUN, LI, DONG SHENG
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Greece D.A. Spandidos 01.04.2016; Spandidos Publications; Spandidos Publications UK Ltd
• Subjects: Brain cancer; Care and treatment; Cytotoxicity; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Development and progression; DNA; DNA methylation; Gene expression; Gene therapy; Genetic aspects; Glioma; glioma cell; Gliomas; Health aspects; mesenchymal stem cells; Messenger RNA; Mutation; Oncology; Phosphatase; phosphatase and tensin homolog; Polymerase chain reaction; Properties; Stem cells; Studies; synthesized mRNA; Tumor suppressor genes; United States > US; glioma cell; gene therapy; phosphatase and tensin homolog; synthesized mRNA; mesenchymal stem cells
• ISSN: 1792-1074; 1792-1082
• DOI: 10.3892/ol.2016.4297

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been considered to have potential as ideal carriers for the delivery of anticancer agents since the capacity for tumor-oriented migration and integration was identified. In contrast to DNA-based vectors, mRNA synthesized in vitro may be readily transfected and is mutagenesis-free. The present study was performed in order to investigate the effects of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) mRNA-engineered MSCs on human glioma U251 cells under indirect co-culture conditions. PTEN-bearing mRNA was generated by in vitro transcription and was transfected into MSCs. The expression of PTEN in transfected MSCs was detected by immunoblotting, and the migration ability of MSCs following PTEN-bearing mRNA transfection was verified using Transwell co-cultures. The indirect co-culture was used to determine the effects of PTEN-engineered MSCs on the viability of U251 glioma cells by luminescence and fluorescence microscopy. The synthesized PTEN mRNA was expressed in MSCs, and the expression was highest at 24 h subsequent to transfection. An enhanced migration rate was observed in MSCs transfected with PTEN mRNA compared with non-transfected MSCs (P<0.05). A significant inhibition of U251 cells was observed when the cells were cultured with conditioned medium from PTEN mRNA-engineered MSCs (P<0.05). The results suggested that anticancer gene-bearing mRNA synthesized in vitro is capable of being applied to a MSC-mediated anticancer strategy for the treatment of glioblastoma patients.