ABSTRACT
Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) may be useful as an efficient vehicle in cell-based gene therapy of human diseases due to their ability to migrate to disease lesions. This study investigated the ability of ADSCharbored human tumor necrosis factorrelated apoptosisinducing ligand (TRAIL) cDNA to facilitate TRAIL expression and induce A375 melanoma cell apoptosis as observed using a Transwell coculture system. A cell migration assay was used to observe ADSC migration ability. In addition, TRAIL protein expression was successfully detected by western blot analysis in ADSCs after stable transfection of TRAIL cDNA. The Transwell coculture system data showed that TRAIL-ADSCs could induce A375 cell apoptosis in a dosedependent manner. At the gene level, the killing activity of TRAIL-ADSCs was associated with activation of caspase4 and caspase8. Collectively, the data from the current study provides preclinical support of ADSCfacilitated TRAIL expression in the treatment of melanoma. Further investigation is required to evaluate and confirm the in vivo ability of TRAIL-ADSCs in therapy of melanoma in animal models.
