RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence has shown that adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) are an effective therapeutic approach for managing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); however, further elucidation is required to determine their underlying immunomodulatory effect on the mRNA expression of T helper cell-related transcription factors (TFs) and cytokine release in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). AIM: To investigate the impact of ADSCs on the mRNA expression of TFs and cytokine release in PBMCs from colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with severe COVID-19 (CRC+ patients). METHODS: PBMCs from CRC+ patients (PBMCs-C+) and age-matched CRC patients (PBMCs-C) were stimulated and cultured in the presence/absence of ADSCs. The mRNA levels of T-box TF TBX21 (T-bet), GATA binding protein 3 (GATA-3), RAR-related orphan receptor C (RORC), and forkhead box P3 (FoxP3) in the PBMCs were determined by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Culture supernatants were evaluated for levels of interferon gamma (IFN-γ), interleukin 4 (IL-4), IL-17A, and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-ß1) using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Compared with PBMCs-C, PBMCs-C+ exhibited higher mRNA levels of T-bet and RORC, and increased levels of IFN-γ and IL-17A. Additionally, a significant decrease in FoxP3 mRNA and TGF-ß1, as well as an increase in T-bet/GATA-3, RORC/FoxP3, IFN-γ/IL-4, and IL-17A/TGF-ß1 ratios were observed in PBMCs-C+. Furthermore, ADSCs significantly induced a functional regulatory T cell (Treg) subset, as evidenced by an increase in FoxP3 mRNA and TGF-ß1 release levels. This was accompanied by a significant decrease in the mRNA levels of T-bet and RORC, release of IFN-γ and IL-17A, and T-bet/GATA-3, RORC/FoxP3, IFN-γ/IL-4, and IL-17A/TGF-ß1 ratios, compared with the PBMCs-C+alone. CONCLUSION: The present in vitro studies showed that ADSCs contributed to the immunosuppressive effects on PBMCs-C+, favoring Treg responses. Thus, ADSC-based cell therapy could be a beneficial approach for patients with severe COVID-19 who fail to respond to conventional therapies.
RESUMO
AIM: To understand the role and significance of side population (SP) cells from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in hepatocarcinogenesis, development, relapse and metastasis, we simulated the denutrition conditions that cancer cells experience in clinical therapy, observed the different anti-apoptosis ability of SP cells and non-SP cells under such conditions, and established the possible effects of P53, Bcl-2 and Bax on survival of SP cells. METHODS: We used flow cytometry to analyze and sort the SP and non-SP cells in established HCC lines MHCC97 and hHCC. We evaluated cell proliferation by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay and investigated the expression of p53, bcl-2 and bax genes during denutrition, by RT-PCR and immunofluorescence staining. RESULTS: The percentage of SP cells in the two established HCC lines was 0.25% and 0.5%, respectively. SP cells had greater anti-apoptosis and proliferation ability than non-SP cells. Expression of Bcl-2 and Bax in SP and non-SP cells differed during denutrition. The former was up-regulated in SP cells, and the latter was up-regulated in non-SP cells. CONCLUSION: It may be that different upstream molecules acted and led to different expression levels of Bcl-2 and Bax in these two cell lines. There was a direct relationship between up-regulation of Bcl-2 and down-regulation of Bax and higher anti-apoptosis ability in SP cells. It may be that the existence and activity of SP cells are partly responsible for some of the clinical phenomena which are seen in HCC, such as relapse or metastasis. Further research on SP cells may have potential applications in the field of anticancer therapy.