Volume 30, Issue 11 e70117
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Open Access

The Abnormal Proliferation of Midbrain Dopamine Cells From Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Is Induced by Exposure to the Tumor Microenvironment

Jun Xue

Jun Xue

Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

National Center for Neurological Disorders, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Restoration and Neural Regeneration, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

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Dongyan Wu

Dongyan Wu

Institute of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

National Clinical Research Center for Aging and Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

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Yuting Bao

Yuting Bao

Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

National Center for Neurological Disorders, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Restoration and Neural Regeneration, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

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Yifan Wu

Yifan Wu

Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

National Center for Neurological Disorders, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Restoration and Neural Regeneration, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

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Xin Zhang

Corresponding Author

Xin Zhang

Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

National Center for Neurological Disorders, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Restoration and Neural Regeneration, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Correspondence:

Xin Zhang ([email protected])

Liang Chen ([email protected])

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Liang Chen

Corresponding Author

Liang Chen

Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

National Center for Neurological Disorders, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Restoration and Neural Regeneration, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Correspondence:

Xin Zhang ([email protected])

Liang Chen ([email protected])

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First published: 19 November 2024

Funding: This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (82272116) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2024M750539).

Jun Xue and Dongyan Wu contributed equally to this work.

ABSTRACT

Aims

Tumorigenicity is a significant concern in stem cell-based therapies. However, traditional tumorigenicity tests using animal models often produce inaccurate results. Consequently, a more sensitive method for assessing tumorigenicity is required. This study aimed to enhance sensitivity by exposing functional progenitors derived from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) to the tumor microenvironment (TME) in vitro before transplantation, potentially making them more prone to abnormal proliferation or tumorigenicity.

Methods

Midbrain dopamine (mDA) cells derived from hPSCs were exposed to the TME by coculturing with medulloblastoma. The cellular characteristics of these cocultured mDA cells were evaluated both in vitro and in vivo, and the mechanisms underlying the observed alterations were investigated.

Results

Our findings demonstrated increased proliferation of cocultured mDA cells both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, these proliferating cells showed a higher expression of Ki67 and SOX1, suggesting abnormal proliferation. The observed abnormal proliferation in cocultured mDA cells was attributed to the hyperactivation of proliferation-related genes, the JAK/STAT3 pathway, and cytokine stimulation.

Conclusion

This study indicates that exposing functional progenitors to the TME in vitro before transplantation can induce abnormal proliferation, thereby increasing the sensitivity of tumorigenicity tests.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. The raw data of RNA-sequencing is available on the database of Sequence Read Archive (PRJNA1066752).

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