Fusion of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells with esophageal carcinoma cells inhibits the tumorigenicity of esophageal carcinoma cells.

Prior studies on the biology and therapeutic application of human stem cells in human malignancies have reported mixed results. Some evidence shows the use of stem cell transplantation is an important tool in the treatment of several hematologic and non-hematologic malignancies while some others suggest both human stem cells and mature stromal cells can contribute to the development and growth of human malignancies. Aiming to provide more evidence on this controversial issue, we investigated the effect of cell fusion of mesenchymal stem cells with esophageal carcinoma cells on tumorigenesis. Results suggest that artificial fusion of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells with esophageal carcinoma cells resulted in hybrids with declined cell growth, increased apoptosis and suppressed tumorigenicity. The comparison of gene expression profiles of human mesenchymal stem cells, esophageal carcinoma cells and hybrids indicated that fusion induced activation of apoptosis. Furthermore, the expression of DUSP6/MKP3 in MAPK pathway increased strikingly and the exogenous overexpression confirmed the growth suppression. Our results demonstrate fusion of human mesenchymal stem cells with esophageal carcinoma cells induced apoptosis and benign transdifferentiation rather than reprogramming to cancer stem cells.