Adipose-derived stem cells promote tumor initiation and accelerate tumor growth by interleukin-6 production

// Hong-Jian Wei 1,2 , Rong Zeng 3 , Jui-Hua Lu 1 , Wen-Fu T. Lai 4 , Wei-Hong Chen 2 , Hen-Yu Liu 2 , Ya-Ting Chang 1 and Win-Ping Deng 1,2,3 1 Graduate Institute of Biomedical Materials and Engineering, College of Oral Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan 2 Stem Cell Research Center, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan 3 Department of Orthopedic Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical College, Zhanjiang, China 4 Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan Correspondence to: Win-Ping Deng, email: // Keywords : Adipose-derived stem cells, Tumor initiation, Cancer stem cell, Breast cancer, Colon cancer Received : October 20, 2015 Accepted : February 03, 2015 Published : March 08, 2015 Abstract Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) are multipotent cells that have attracted much recent attention. Here, we show that ADSCs enhance sphere formation and in vivo tumor initiation of breast and colon cancer cells. In co-culture, ADSCs induced several stem cell markers in cancer cells. ADSCs also accelerated tumor growth. Interaction of ADSCs and cancer cells stimulated secretion of interlukin-6 in ADSCs, which in turn acted in a paracrine manner on cancer cells to enhance their malignant properties. Interleukin-6 regulated stem cell-related genes and activated JAK2/STAT3 in cancer cells. We suggest that ADSCs may enhance tumor initiation and promotion.