Investigation of apoptosis induction in acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell line (Molt-4) following co-culture with mesenchymal stem cells

Abstract

Introduction: Today, cancer is of particular importance because it is the second leading cause of death in the world. ALL is malignant leukemia, and its prevalence is increasing. More evidence shows that apoptosis is an important factor in preventing cancer progression and plays an essential role in treating various tumors. On the other hand, many studies have been reported regarding inhibiting tumor cell growth, metastasis, and apoptosis by stem cells, which promises to be a more effective treatment for various cancers. Objective: Investigating induction of apoptosis in an acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell line (Molt-4) following co-culture with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) Materials and Methods: In this study, adipose tissue-derived MSCs and acute lymphoid leukemia (Molt-4) cell lines were cultured separately. Then, both cells are co-cultured with each other for 7 days using special co-cultured transwell plates. At the end of the co-culture period, cell apoptosis and the expression of BAD and P53 genes were assessed using Caspase 3 activation and Real time-PCR. Results: The results showed that after culturing with MSCs, the gene expression of BAD and P53 in Molt-4 cells are significantly increased by 1.8 and 1.94 fold when compared to the control group (*P<0.05 and **P<0.01, respectively). Also, the expression of caspase-3 in the co-culture group significantly increases (**P<0.01), and Ki expression in the same group significantly decreases when compared to the control group (*P<0.05). Conclusion: The present study showed that MSCs decreased the cell growth of ALL cells by increasing the expression of Caspase-3, which was associated with increased expression of the apoptotic genes BAD and P53.