Umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells inhibit growth and promote apoptosis of HepG2 cells.

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the fifth most common type of cancer worldwide and remains difficult to treat. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from the umbilical cord (UC­MSCs) on HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells. UC­MSCs were co­cultured with HepG2 cells and biomarkers of UC­MSCs were analyzed by flow cytometry. mRNA and protein expression of genes were determined by reverse transcription­polymerase chain reaction and flow cytometry, respectively. Passage three and seven UC­MSCs expressed CD29, CD44, CD90 and CD105, whereas CD34 and CD45 were absent on these cells. Co­culture with UC­MSCs inhibited proliferation and promoted apoptosis of HepG2 cells in a time­dependent manner. The initial seeding density of UC­MSCs also influenced the proliferation and apoptosis of HepG2 cells, with an increased number of UC­MSCs causing enhanced proliferation inhibition and cell apoptosis. Co­culture with UC­MSCs downregulated mRNA and protein expression of α­fetoprotein (AFP), Bcl­2 and Survivin in HepG2 cells. Thus, UC­MSCs may inhibit growth and promote apoptosis of HepG2 cells through downregulation of AFP, Bcl­2 and Survivin. US-MSCs may be used as a novel therapy for treating hepatocellular carcinoma in the future.

Urine and serum metabolomic profiling reveals that bile acids and carnitine may be potential biomarkers of primary biliary cirrhosis.

In order to provide non-invasive, reliable and sensitive laboratory parameters for the diagnosis of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), metabolic technology of ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF MS) was used to compare small molecule metabolites in blood and urine from patients with PBC and healthy controls. We then screened for bio-markers in the blood and urine of the patients with PBC. Data were processed by Bruker ProfileAnalysis metabonomic software and imported to SIMCA-P software, which utilized principal component analysis (PCA) to create models of patients with PBC and healthy controls. In total, 18 urinary markers were found and the levels of 11 of these urinary markers were elevated in the patients with PBC, whereas the levels of the remaining 7 markers were lower in the PBC group compared to the control group. We also identified 20 blood-based biomarkers in the patients with PBC and the levels of 9 of these markers were higher in the PBC group, whereas the levels of the remaining 11 markers were lower in the patients with PBC compared to the controls. Among these biomarkers, the levels of bile acids increased with the progression of PBC, while the levels of carnitines, such as propionyl carnitine and butyryl carnitine, decreased with the progression of PBC. In conclusion, the findings of the present study suggest that the circulating levels of bile acids and carnitine are differentially altered in patients with PBC.