Effect of CCR1 gene overexpression on the migration of bone marrow - derived mesenchymal stem cells towards hepatocellular carcinoma
10.3760/cma.j.issn.1007-3418.2017.05.009
- VernacularTitle: CCR1基因过表达对骨髓间充质干细胞靶向肝癌迁移能力的影响
- Author:
Yun GAO
1
;
Xinli HUANG
;
Long ZHANG
;
Lei DENG
;
Aihong YIN
;
Beicheng SUN
;
Sen LU
Author Information
1. Laboratory on Living Donor Liver Transplantation, Ministry of Health, Department of Liver Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Carcinoma, hepatocellular;
Migration;
Mesenchymal stem cells;
Lentiviral vector;
CCR1
- From:
Chinese Journal of Hepatology
2017;25(5):354-359
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To evaluate the effect of human CCR1 (hCCR1) gene overexpression on the migration of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) towards hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and to examine the application prospects of MSCs as gene delivery vectors in the treatment of HCC.
Methods:The hCCR1 gene was subcloned into a lentiviral vector to generate the recombinant plasmid pLV-hCCR1. The pLV-hCCR1 plasmid and two other packaging plasmids were co-transfected into 293T cells using calcium phosphate, and the virus-containing supernatant was collected. hMSCs were then infected with the recombinant lentivirus, and the expression of hCCR1 mRNA and protein was analyzed by RT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. The effect of CCR1 gene overexpression on the in vitro migration of hMSCs was examined using the Transwell migration assay. Orthotopic nude mice models of HCC were established using the MHCC-97H-GFP cell line, and the mice were divided into two groups (n = 8 per group). hMSCs were then intravenously injected via the tail vein into the tumor-bearing nude mice to examine the effect of hCCR1 overexpression on the in vivo migration of hMSCs towards HCC. Unpaired Student’s t-test was used for two-group comparisons, and one-way ANOVA was used for multi-group comparisons.
Results:Restriction enzyme digestion and DNA sequencing demonstrated that the recombinant plasmid pLV-hCCR1 was constructed successfully. The LV-hCCR1 lentivirus packaged by 293T cells has high infection efficiency in hMSCs, and hCCR1 was overexpressed in hMSCs after LV-hCCR1 infection. Transwell migration assay showed that hCCR1-transfected hMSCs had significantly enhanced migration towards HCC cell line-derived condition medium (CM) compared with the control RFP-hMSCs [(134.8±15.7)/LPF vs (83.5±10.9)/LPF, t = 10.40, P < 0.01]. In vivo migration experiment also demonstrated that there was significantly higher number of hCCR1-hMSCs localized within the MHCC-97H-GFP xenografts than hMSCs-RFP on day 14 following intravenous injection of hMSCs in mice [(86.7±14.1)/HPF vs (54.5±9.6)/HPF, t = -7.32, P < 0.01].
Conclusion:Overexpression of CCR1 gene can significantly enhance the migration capacity of hMSCs towards HCC cells in vitro and in vivo. This study provides evidence for potential clinical application of MSCs as more effective delivery vehicles in cancer gene therapy.
