Background
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent a subset of non-hematopoietic adult stem cells, which exhibit the potential to differentiate to diverse lineages, such as bone, adipose and cartilage tissues [
1,
2]. In addition to the roles in tissue repair and regeneration, MSCs have been suggested as a critical component in tumor microenvironment, in which the soluble factors produced by inflammatory and tumor cells will recruit MSCs to the tumor sites [
3]. Our previous study has demonstrated that bone marrow derived MSCs are recruited to the site of growing tumors and promote tumor growth in mouse xenograft models [
4‐
6], suggesting that the interaction between MSCs and tumor cells is critical for tumor progression. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear.
Cell fusion, a complex and highly regulated process in which two or more cells become one by merging their plasma membranes, plays critical roles in several physiological (fertilization, tissue regeneration) and pathophysiological (viral infection, cancer) events [
7]. More and more findings have proposed that cell fusion may be involved in tumor progression [
8‐
12]. The hybrids of cell fusion can be more malignant than their parental cells and possess enhanced ability to metastasize [
13‐
15]. A model of “wolf in sheep’s clothing” is proposed to explain the link between cell fusion and metastasis. This model suggests that tumor cells become metastatic by fusion with normal cells that travel throughout the body freely [
16]. For instance, tumor associated macrophage may fuse with epithelial cancer cells at the sites of primary tumor, giving rise to hybrids that have enhanced migratory and invasive capabilities [
17].
MSCs are considered as one of the pivotal elements in the tumor microenvironment as well as a promising fusogenic candidate [
18]. So, whether MSCs could merge with other cells, pre-malignant cells or cancer cells, and play an important role in the occurrence of tumor. A stem cell fusion model has emerged as a classical mechanism for tumor development. This model suggests that a fusion event between bone marrow-derived stem cell (BMDSC) and pre-malignant cells give rise to cancer [
19]. Also, MSCs can fuse with different cancer cells spontaneously at low frequency. Several studies have shown that the hybrids between pre-malignant cell and stem cells are more malignant than the parental cells and gain self-renewal and migratory abilities, which highlight the pro-tumor role of stem cells by fusing with other cells [
20‐
23].
Gastric cancer is the fourth most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide [
24]. In our previous studies, we found that after treatment with gastric cancer cell-derived exosomes, hucMSCs differentiated into carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) [
25]. We have also previously reported that hucMSCs activated by macrophages promote both gastric epithelial cells and gastric cancer cells proliferation and migration [
26]. However, few researches have been done into the effect of cell fusion of MSCs with gastric cancer cells on gastric carcinoma. In the present study we fused hucMSCs with gastric cancer cells and investigated the effect of fusion with hucMSCs on the biological properties of gastric cancer cells. We found that the hybrids of mesenchymal stem cells and gastric cancer cells contributed to highly malignant both with EMT and stem-cell like properties.
Methods
Ethics statement
Ethical and methodological aspects of the investigation protocols were approved by the ethical committee of Jiangsu University (2012258).
Cell culture
Human gastric cancer cell lines HGC-27 and SGC-7901 were purchased from Cell Bank,Type Culture Collection Committee,Chinese Academy of Sciences (Shanghai, China). HGC-27 cells and SGC-7901 cells were maintained in high-glucose DMEM (H-DMEM, Life technologies, USA) with 10 % FBS. HucMSCs were obtained and identified as previously described [
27]. HucMSCs were maintained in low-glucose DMEM (L-DMEM, Life technologies) with 10 % FBS. Cells were all incubated at 37 °C in humidified cell culture incubator with 5 % CO
2 and the medium was changed every 3 days after the initial plating.
Cell fusion and sorting
Gastric cancer cells (HGC-27 or SGC-7901) and hucMSCs were labeled with DIO and DID fluorescent dye following the manufacturer’s instructions (Life technologies), respectively. The hybrids of DIO-labeled gastric cancer cells (1 × 106) and DID-labeled hucMSCs (1 × 105) were generated by using PEG1500 (Roche, USA). The fusion cells were plated in L-DMEM with 10 % FBS, cultured for 2 days, and then sorted by flow cytometer (SORP Aria II, BD Biosciences, USA). The double-positive hybrid cells were collected in L-DMEM containing 10 % FBS, penicillin and streptomycin. The sorted fused cells were collected and cultured in a 96-well plate using limiting dilution method for single cell sub-cloning.
Flow cytometry and imaging
The DIO-labeled HGC-27 cells/SGC-7901 cells and DID-labeled hucMSCs was fused by PEG1500 in vitro and suspended in 200 μl PBS. Then the cell suspensions were analyzed on the Image Stream X Mark IIimaging flow cytometer (Merck Millipore) with low flow rate/high sensitivity. The cell suspensions were acquired immediately and single cell populations were gated for detect the fused cells and unfused cells visually. Four fluorescence channels were visualized in the INSPIRE software: Brightfield images were collected in CH1, DIO fluorescence was recorded using excitation with a 488 nm laser (CH2), and DID fluorescence using excitation with a 640 laser (CH11). A total of 3000–5000 cell events were collected for each sample. Single stained controls were also collected (DIO only and DID only labelled cells) at the same settings in order to develop a compensation matrix for removing spectral overlap of dyes from each of the channels.
Cell counting
The parental and fusion cells were seeded into 24-well plate (1 × 104 cells/well) overnight. The cells were collected and counted at the indicated time points (24, 48, 72 and 96 h). The results are the mean values of three independent experiments.
The parental or fusion cells were harvested and plated into a 6-well plate (2 × 103 cells/well) and incubated at 37 °C in humidified cell culture incubator with 5 % CO2 for 15 days. The medium was changed every 3 days. To evaluate the number of colonies, the cultures were fixed with 4 % para-formaldehyde and stained with crystal violet. The results are the mean values of three independent experiments.
Cell invasion and migration
The parental or fusion cells (1 × 105 cells in serum free-DMEM medium) were seeded into the upper chamber, and medium containing 10 % FBS was added to the lower chamber. After incubation at 37 °C in 5 % CO2 for 12 h, the cells that invaded and migrated to the lower surface of the membrane were fixed with 4 % para-formaldehyde and stained with crystal violet for 15 min. This experiment was performed in triplicate.
Western blot
Cells were homogenized and lysed in RIPA buffer supplemented with proteinase inhibitor. Equal amount of proteins (150 μg) were loaded and run on 12 % SDS-PAGE gel, then transferred onto PVDF membranes following electrophoresis. After blocked with 5 % milk in TBS/T for 1 h, membranes were incubated with the primary antibodies at 4 °C overnight. The sources of primary antibodies were: anti-E-cadherin and anti-N-cadherin (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, CA, USA); anti-Oct4, anti-Sox2, anti-Nanog, anti-Vimentin (Signalway Antibody, USA); anti-PCNA, anti-Cyclin D1 (Bioworld Technology, Louis Park, MN, USA). GAPDH (Cwbio, Beijing, China) was used as the loading control.
Real-time RT-PCR
Total RNA was extracted using Trizol reagent (Life technologies, Carlsbad, CA, USA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions and equal amount of RNA was used for real-time PCR analyses. The cDNAs were synthesized by using a reverse transcription kit (Vazyme, Nanjing, China). β-actin was used as the internal control. The sequences of specific primers are listed in Table
1.
Table 1
List of primer sequences
Oct4 | TTGAGGCTCTGCAGCTTAG | 60 | 285 |
GCCGGTTACAGAACCACAC |
Sox2 | ACACCAATCCCATCCACACT | 60 | 224 |
GCAAACTTCCTGCAAAGCTC |
Nanog | CCTGATTCTTCCACCAGTCC | 60 | 292 |
TGCTATTCTTCGGCCAGTTG |
Lin28 | ACCGGACCTGGTGGAGTATT | 60 | 204 |
CTTCAGCGGACATGAGGCTA |
E-cadherin | CGCATTGCCACATACACTCT | 60 | 252 |
TTGGCTGAGGATGGTGTAAG |
N-cadherin | AGTCAACTGCAACCGTGTCT | 60 | 337 |
AGCGTTCCTGTTCCACTCAT |
vimentin | GAGCTGCAGGAGCTGAATG | 60 | 344 |
AGGTCAAGACGTGCCAGAG |
α -SMA | CTGACTGAGCGTGGCTATTC | 58 | 452 |
CCACCGATCCAGACAGAGTA |
FAP | ATAGCAGTGGCTCCAGTCTC | 59 | 278 |
GATAAGCCGTGGTTCTGGTC |
Slug | CCTGGTTGCTTCAAGGACAC | 60 | 395 |
TCCATGCTCTTGCAGCTCTC |
snail | GGTTCTTCTGCGCTACTGCT | 59 | 285 |
TAGGGCTGCTGGAAGGTAAA |
twist | GTCCGCAGTCTTACGAGGAG | 60 | 294 |
TGGAGGACCTGGTAGAGGAA |
β-actin | CACGAAACTACCTTCAACTCC | 56 | 265 |
CATACTCCTGCTTGCTGATC |
Immunofluorescence
Cells cultured in 24-well chamber slides were washed twice with cold PBS, fixed with 4 % para-formaldehyde for 15 min, permeabilized with 0.1 % Triton X-100 for 5 min, blocked with 5 % BSA, incubated with indicated primary antibodies(anti-CD44 and anti-α-SMA, Bioworld Technology) at 4 °C overnight and followed by a Cy3-conjugated anti-rabbit secondary antibody (Cwbio, Beijing, China). The cells were then stained with Hoechst 33342 for nuclear staining, and the images were acquired with a Nikon eclipse Ti-S microscope (Nikon, Tokyo, Japan).
Flow cytometry
The expression of CD133 antigen on hybrids and parental gastric cancer cells were performed by flow cytometry. Cells were stained with PE-conjugated monoclonal anti-human CD133 (Becton Dickinson). Isotype control IgG-PE (San Jose, CA) served as a control. After stained 30 min, samples were analyzed by flow cytometry (FACS Calibur, BD) and data were analyzed using CellQuest software (BD Biosciences).
H&E staining
The neoplasm tissues (4 mm2) were deparaffinated then gradually dehydrated, embedded in paraffin, the tissue sections (4 μm) were stained by H&E staining for light microscopy.
Xenograft assay
Twelve male BALB/C nude mice (4–6 weeks) were purchased from Laboratory Animal center of Shanghai and were randomly divided into 6 mice per group. Both groups were injected subcutaneously of either HGC-27 or HGC-27 fusion cells (2 × 106 cells in 200 μl PBS). Tumor growth was evaluated by measuring the length and width of the tumor mass with calipers every 2 days. Tumor volumes were calculated by the modified ellipsoidal formula: (length × width2) /2.
Statistical analysis
Statistical analysis of the data was performed by using GraphPad Prism 5 software. All the data were expressed as mean ± SD. The means of different treatment groups were compared by two-way ANOVA or the Student’s t test. P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Discussion
During the process of tumor progression, tumor cells can detach from the primary tumor site and spread to other parts of the body and colonize distant organ sites. Although a number of routes to metastasize have been proposed, the precise underlying mechanisms still remain elusive. Recently, a prominent theory has emerged, which states that a tumor cell could fuse with a mobile cell type and then travel to another site in the body to establish cancer. This classic theory is called “cancer cell fusion” [
28], which first regard cell fusion event as a possible mechanism of tumor metastasis. Pawelek et al. fused the healthy macrophages with weakly metastatic melanoma cells and found that most of the experimental hybrids were highly metastatic and lethal when implanted into mice [
29]. Not only in animal model, they also give substantiated reports for cancer cell fusion in human, in which a melanoma brain metastasis with a donor-patient hybrid genome following bone marrow transplantation [
30]. Thus, cell fusion event is regarded as a hidden force or a hidden enemy in cancer.
Similar to “cancer cell fusion” theory, another model has been proposed in recent years. The stem cell fusion model focuses on the role of BMDCs (including MSCs) in cell fusion event. This hypothesis proposes that fusion between BMDCs and “altered” tissue cells/pre-malignant cells would result in malignant tumors, which may be more migratory and more invasive. BM-MSC could be a putative fusion candidate and are known to specifically migrate to and engraft at inflammation or tumor sites. Several studies have reported that MSCs could fuse with variety of target cells and generate the tumorigenic hybrids after fusion. Houghton et al. reported that bone marrow derived cells are the origin of gastric cancer in helicobacter-infected mice [
31]. MSCs may be recruited to the Helicobacter Pylori-infected gastric mucosa where they fuse with existing neoplastic and pre-neoplastic epithelial cells. Fusion of MSC with gastric epithelial cells increases invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer [
32]. The spontaneous formation of BM-MSCs and lung/breast cancer hybrids acquire the tumorigenic and metastatic properties as well as mesenchymal characteristic [
15,
22]. In addition, the hybrids of HepG2 cells and MSCs after PEG mediated fusion are more metastatic
in vivo than MSCs and HepG2 [
23]. In contrary, there are some studies showing that fusion of MSCs with esophageal carcinoma cells inhibits the tumorigenicity of esophageal carcinoma cells [
33].
In this report, we fused human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells with gastric cancer cells by PEG1500 to obtain hybrids in vitro. PEG is a widely used agent for cell fusion because of its simplicity and low cost. Moreover, cell fusion mediated by PEG is an efficient procedure for obtaining somatic cell hybrids and widely used in monclonal antibody production. PEG could induce cell agglutination and cell-to-cell contact, leading to subsequent cell fusion. However, the detailed mechanisms underlying the PEG-mediated cell fusion are not known. In natural process, cell fusion is also a common event, compared with PEG-induced cell fusion, in natural process, cell fusion is a basic physiological activities and complex and highly regulated process, and the rate of cell fusion event is very rare. The aritifical fusion process such as PEG-induced cell fusion also has its limitation, PEG can cause the uncontrollable fusion of multiple cells, leading to the appearance of giant polykaryons. In addition, standard PEG-mediated cell fusion is pooly reproducible, and different cell types have varible fusion susceptibilities.
Our present results demonstrate that cell fusion between hucMSCs and gastric cancer cells generates a population of tumorigenic hybrids, which exhibit mesenchymal phenotypes and properties from MSCs along with increased metastatic capacity. The fused cells expressed higher levels of markers and regulatory proteins associated with epithelial to mesenchymal transition such as vimentin, α-SMA, and FAP, and exhibited an enhanced invasiveness and motility in transwell assay. This indicates that cell fusion event may induce an epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in the hybrids.
EMT is an essential step in the process of cancer cell dissemination and metastasis. Recent work reveals that the process of EMT generates cells with stem cell like properties in the mammary cell population [
34], which puts forward the cell fusion hypothesis of cancer stem cells [
35]. Fusion events may result in the transient induction of an EMT in large population of cancer cells and simultaneously induces the generation of CSCs. The cell fusion hypothesis of CSCs adds an important functional underpinning to the potential multifaceted roles of cell fusion in the initiation and progression of cancers [
36,
37]. However, opinions differ as to whether cell fusion would generate CSCs. Fan et al. have shown that fusion between human bone hematopoietic stem cells and esophageal cancer cell might not contribute to the origin of cancer stem cells [
38]. Our present data showed that the hybrids highly expressed stemness genes such as Oct4, Sox2, Nanog and Lin28 compared to the parental cells, indicating that the hybrids may acquire cancer stem cell properties after cell fusion. In our results, compared with the expression of EMT and stemenss proteins in gastric cancer cells and hucMSCs, the hybrid cells were somewhere in between. The results suggest that hybrid cells could acquire the mesenchymal and stemness proteins during a physical fusion event with MSCs. Although the hybrid cells have both EMT and stem cell-like properties, future work are warranted to ascertain whether the tumorigenic hybrids are cancer stem cells. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the cell fusion event in the cancer research in the future, especially the involvement of MSCs participated cell fusion in carcinogenesis. Blocking cell fusion within cancerous tissues would prevent the origin of more malignant tumor hybrid cells [
39].
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Major Research Plan of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 91129718), Jiangsu Province for Outstanding Sci-tech Innovation Team in Colleges and Universities (Grant no. SJK2013-10), Jiangsu Province’s Project of Scientific and Technological Innovation and Achievements Transformation (Grant no. BL2012055), Jiangsu Province’s Project of the Major Research and Development (Grant no. BE2015667), Jiangsu Province’s Outstanding Medical Academic Leader and Sci-tech Innovation Team Program (Grant no. LJ201117),Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors’ contributions
JX, YZ and HQ: designed and performed research, data analysis and interpretation, and manuscript writing; ZS, XZ, BZ and YY: carried out the cell fusion studies and migration assays; RJ, XY, LY and HX: analysis of data and revision of it critically; LZ, WZ and WX: conceived of the study and supported the research. All authors read and approved the final manuscript for publication.