Cancer stemness and metastatic potential of the novel tumor cell line K3: an inner mutated cell of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells

// Hui Qian 1, * , Xiaoqing Ding 2, * , Jiao Zhang 1, * , Fei Mao 1 , Zixuan Sun 1 , Haoyuan Jia 1 , Lei Yin 1 , Mei Wang 1 , Xu Zhang 1 , Bin Zhang 1 , Yongmin Yan 1 , Wei Zhu 1 and Wenrong Xu 1 1 Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Medical Science and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, P. R. China 2 Faculty of Medical Laboratory Science, Rui-Jin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, P. R. China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Wenrong Xu, email: icls@ujs.edu.cn Keywords: mesenchymal stem cell, side population cells, cancer stem cell, metastasis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition Received: August 20, 2016     Accepted: February 20, 2017     Published: April 17, 2017 ABSTRACT Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) transplantation has been used for therapeutic applications in various diseases. Here we report MSCs can malignantly transform in vivo . The novel neoplasm was found on the tail of female rat after injection with male rat bone marrow-derived MSCs (rBM-MSCs) and the new tumor cell line, K3, was isolated from the neoplasm. The K3 cells expressed surface antigens and pluripotent genes similar to those of rBM-MSCs and presented tumor cell features. Moreover, the K3 cells contained side population cells (SP) like cancer stem cells (CSCs), which might contribute to K3 heterogeneity and tumorigenic capacity. To investigate the metastatic potential of K3 cells, we established the nude mouse models of liver and lung metastases and isolated the corresponding metastatic cell lines K3-F4 and K3-B6. Both K3-F4 and K3-B6 cell lines with higher metastatic potential acquired more mesenchymal and stemness-related features. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition is a potential mechanism of K3-F4 and K3-B6 formation.