Chronic myeloid leukemia blood inflicted injury in cord derived Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cells

Objective: To determine the effects of blood from CML patients on human umbilical cord derived Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cells [WJMSCs] for evaluation of their therapeutic potential

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Study Design: An experimental study

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Place and Duration of Study: Centre for Research in Molecular Medicine, University of Lahore, from September 2013 to December 2014

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Methodology: Possible behavior of WJMSCs in CML patients was assessed by culturing these cells in their plasma. WJMSCs at passage 3 were cultured in plasma isolated from 9 CML patients as well as 9 normal subjects. Effects on cell viability, proliferation, LDH release, paracrine factors [p38 and p53] and oxidative stress were evaluated

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Results: WJMSCs cultured in plasma of CML patients showed decreased viability, slow proliferation, high LDH release, high expression of p38 and p53 and a high oxidative stress compared to normal subjects

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Conclusion: Stressed environment of CML patients' blood/plasma induced injury to WJMSCs as well as reduced their viability. Effectiveness of these cells for therapeutics of CML is, therefore, likely to be reduced