Reduced elastin in multiple myeloma niche promotes cell proliferation.

Multiple myeloma (MM) malignant plasma cells accumulate in the bone marrow (BM) where their interactions with the microenvironment promote disease progression and drug resistance. Previously, we have shown that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) (MM and normal donors- ND) derived extracellular matrix (ECM) affected MM cell lines differentially with a pro-MM effect attributed to MM-MSCs' ECM. Here we studied the composition of BM-MSC's ECM (ND versus MM) with focus on elastin (ELN).