Dental Mesenchymal Stem Cells’ Effect on Glioma Cells

Abstract: Glioma is a malignant tumor with a high mortality rate within few years of diagnosis. Due to limited effect of currently available cancer therapies, alternative therapies are investigated. Studies have shown that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) may have a therapeutic potential in glioma treatment. The objective of this in-vitro study was to examine the effect of three different human dental MSCs (D-MSC) on rat glioma cells. We utilized three experimental set ups in order to study the effect of D-MSC on glioma cell survival: unstimulated conditioned medium, stimulated conditioned medium, and direct co-culture. Unstimulated conditioned medium showed an inhibitory effect of 10-30 % on cell survival. Stimulated conditioned medium showed no statistically significant inhibition of glioma cell survival. Direct co-culture immunofluorescence microscopy revealed propidium iodide absorption, indicating cell death, in glioma. Results indicate that D-MSC has a negative influence on glioma proliferation but secreted/expressed factors mediating this effect are unidentified. This is a screening of D-MSCs potential therapeutic effect in treating glioma.