Mesenchymal stem cells promote the induction of colorectal cancer cells on normal intestinal epithelium

Objective: To establish a co-culture model of colon cancer cells or mesenchymal stem cells with normal colon epithelial cells in vitro for simulating the tumor microenvironment in vitro, and to investigate the effect of colon cancer cells or mesenchymal stem cells on the migration and epithelial-mesenchymal transformation (EMT) of normal colon epithelial cells in the co-culture environment. Method: Co-culture model of colon cancer cell line SW480 or human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) with human normal colon epithelial cells (NCM460) was established. Morphological changes of NCM460 after co-culture were evaluated by microscopic observation, and migration ability of NCM460 was measured by wound healing and Transwell assay. Meanwhile, Western blot was used to detect the EMT markers of NCM460. Results: There was no significant change in cell morphology of NCM460. Transwell assay results showed that when hUC-MSC or SW480 were co-cultured with NCM460, there is a trend of enhancement of the migration ability of NCM460, and the expression of Vimentin was up-regulated to some extent (P<0.05), E-cadherin and wound healing ability were not significantly changed (P>0.05).When NCM460 were cocultured with MSCs and SW480 at the same time, NCM460's wound healing ability and migration ability were significantly enhanced, meanwhile Vimentin protein expression was significantly up-regulated and E-cadherin protein was significantly down-regulated significantly (P<0.05). Conclusion: Colon cancer cells can increase the migration ability of normal colon epithelial cells and upregulate the expression of EMT markers. Mesenchymal stem cells may play a role in this process.