TRAIL-expressing gingival-derived mesenchymal stem cells inhibit tumorigenesis of tongue squamous cell carcinoma

Recent research has verified that mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (mscs) derived from bone marrow or adipose tissues can migrate toward a variety of tumors. in this study,we explored whether human gingival-derived mscs (g-mscs) can migrate toward tongue squamous cell carcinoma (tscc) and evaluated the antitumor effect of engineered g-mscs in expressing and delivering the tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (trail). an in vitro cell migration assay with transwell plates showed that human g-mscs can migrate toward tscc cell lines (tca8113 and cal27). then,human g-mscs,as a type of cell-based vehicle,were transduced with full-length trail and enhanced green fluorescent protein reporter genes by the lentivirus (lv) system (g-mscs with full-length trail; g-mscflt). tca8113 and cal27 were co-cultured with g-mscflt,respectively,to evaluate the function of g-mscflt on tumor cells in vitro. this resulted in g-mscflt's inducing a great number of tumor cell necrosis and apoptosis. meanwhile,in vivo antitumor assays were performed by administering g-mscflt to nude mice locally and systematically (mixed injection with tumor cells and tail vein injection). this showed that g-mscflt can reduce or even inhibit tscc growth regardless of the method of administration,especially when the mixed injection of tumor cells and g-mscflt was at a ratio of 1:1,which showed no tumor formation. furthermore,this verified that g-mscflt migrated toward tscc in quantity. these data emphasize the effectiveness of g-mscs as a vehicle for cell-based gene therapy and the antitumor activity of trail-expressing g-mscs. © international & american associations for dental research 2014.