Mesenchymal stromal cells derived from the bone marrow of acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients show altered BMP4 production: correlations with the course of disease.

The relevance of tumor microenvironment for the development and progression of tumor cells in hematological malignancies has been extensively reported. Identification of factors involved in the information exchange between the malignant cells and the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) and the knowledge on their functioning may provide important information to eliminate leukemic cells from protective BM niches. We evaluated changes in BM-MSCs obtained from children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at different times in the course of disease.

Low doses of bone morphogenetic protein 4 increase the survival of human adipose-derived stem cells maintaining their stemness and multipotency.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have emerged as important tools for cell therapy; therefore, identification of factors capable of governing their ex vivo expansion become essential. In this study we demonstrate that human adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) express all components of the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)/BMP receptor signaling pathway and respond to BMP4 inducing upregulated expression of its specific target genes Id1-Id4. Moreover, ASCs grown in a medium reduced in serum produce endogenous BMP4 that could affect autocrinely ASC growth.