en Medical Biology Medical Biology مقاله پژوهشی Original Research Article <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:16px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><strong new="" roman="" style="font-family: " times=""><span style="color:#ffffff;"><span style="background-color:#16a085;">Background and Objective:</span></span>&nbsp;</strong><span style="line-height:200%"><span style="line-height:200%">Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) promote metastasis in colorectal cancer; however, the mechanism</span> <span style="line-height:200%">underlying this process is not fully understood. Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a key step in tumor acquisition of metastatic phenotype. We aimed to investigate the effect of MSCs on the expression of EMT markers, as well as cancer stem cell markers in HT-29 colorectal cancer cells.</span></span><br> <strong new="" roman="" style="font-family: " times=""><span style="color:#ffffff;"><span style="background-color:#16a085;">Materials and Methods:</span></span>&nbsp;</strong><span style="line-height:200%"><span style="line-height:200%">MSCs were isolated from bone marrow tissue, and their multi potency was confirmed. The HT-29 cell line was prepared and co-cultured with MSCs for 3 days using 6-well transwell co-culture plates (membrane pore size: 0.4 &micro;m). Cell morphology was observed by inverted microscopy. The expression levels of EMT-related genes, namely E-cadherin, Vimentin, and &beta;-catenin, were investigated by the RT-qPCR method. Also, the surface expression levels of CD44 and CD133 cancer stem cell markers were analyzed by flow cytometry.</span></span><br> <strong new="" roman="" style="font-family: " times=""><span style="color:#ffffff;"><span style="background-color:#16a085;">Results:</span></span></strong>&nbsp;<span style="line-height:200%"><span style="line-height:200%">The co-culture of HT-29 cells with bone marrow-derived MSCs resulted in changes in cell morphology from epithelial to mesenchymal forms. The expression of mesenchymal stem cell markers, namely Vimentin and &beta;-catenin, were significantly increased (2.25 and 1.83 folds, respectively), while the expression of the epithelial marker, E-cadherin, was reduced (0.3 folds). The expression of CD133 was also increased (51.5%).</span></span><br> <strong new="" roman="" style="font-family: " times=""><span style="color:#ffffff;"><span style="background-color:#16a085;">Conclusion:</span></span>&nbsp;</strong><span style="line-height:200%"><span style="line-height:200%">Tumor-resident mesenchymal stem cells can promote colorectal cancer metastasis inducing EMT as well as increasing cancer stem cell frequency in the tumor microenvironment. It seems that direct contact between MSCs and colorectal cancer cells is not required for the interaction. Our findings may help scientists to find effective strategies against cancer metastasis by targeting tumor-resident MSCs.</span></span></span></span></p> Stem cells, Metastasis, Colorectal cancer, Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition, Biomarker 477 485 http://journal.zums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-5874-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Sepideh Mirzaei houshmandi.kia7@ut.ac.ir 5200319475328460073656 5200319475328460073656 No Dept. of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Sciences and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran Kiavash Hushmandi kiavash.hushmandi@gmail.com 5200319475328460073657 5200319475328460073657 No Dept. of Food Hygiene and Quality Control, Division of Epidemiology & Zoonoses, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Maliheh Entezari mentezari@iautmu.ac.ir 5200319475328460073658 5200319475328460073658 No Dept. of Genetics, Islamic Azad University, Tehran Medical Sciences, Branch, Tehran, Iran Alireza Bahonar abahonar@ut.ac.ir 5200319475328460073659 5200319475328460073659 No Dept. of Food Hygiene and Quality Control, Division of Epidemiology & Zoonoses, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Mehdi Raei mehdi_r_d@yahoo.com 5200319475328460073660 5200319475328460073660 No Health Research Center, Life Style Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Mohammad Esmaeil Akbari profmeakbari@gmail.com 5200319475328460073661 5200319475328460073661 Yes Cancer Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran