Umbilical Cord Blood and iPSC-Derived Natural Killer Cells Demonstrate Key Differences in Cytotoxic Activity and KIR Profiles.

Natural killer (NK) cells derived or isolated from different sources have been gaining in importance for cancer therapies. In this study, we evaluate and compare key characteristics between NK cells derived or isolated from umbilical cord blood, umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells, peripheral blood, and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Specifically, we find CD56 NK cells isolated and expanded directly from umbilical cord blood (UCB56) and NK cells derived from CD34 hematopoietic stem/progenitors in umbilical cord blood (UCB34) differ in their expression of markers associated with differentiation including CD16, CD2, and killer Ig-like receptors (KIRs).

Sulforaphane promotes apoptosis, and inhibits proliferation and self-renewal of nasopharyngeal cancer cells by targeting STAT signal through miRNA-124-3p.

Sulforaphane (SF) exhibits an anti-tumor effect in a variety of cancers, but little is known about its function in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. SF could decrease the expression of stem cell markers, β-catenin, Nanog, c-Myc, Oct3/4 and Sox2 in nasopharyngeal cancer cells (HONE1 and SUN1), and inhibit the formation of tumor spheres. Moreover, SF inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis decreasing the stemness of nasopharyngeal cancer cells through a mechanism related to STAT3 signaling in vitro.