Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale San Pietro 43/B, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Francesca Balzano
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale San Pietro 43/B, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Sara Cruciani
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale San Pietro 43/B, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Renzo Pala
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale San Pietro 43/B, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Donatella Coradduzza
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale San Pietro 43/B, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Emanuela Azara
Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry, National Research Council, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Emanuela Bellu
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale San Pietro 43/B, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Maria Laura Cossu
Department of Medical, Surgical and Experimental Sciences, General Surgery Unit 2 “Clinica Chirurgica”, University of Sassari, Viale San Pietro 8, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Giorgio C. Ginesu
Department of Medical, Surgical and Experimental Sciences, General Surgery Unit 2 “Clinica Chirurgica”, University of Sassari, Viale San Pietro 8, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Ciriaco Carru
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale San Pietro 43/B, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Carlo Ventura
Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Stem Cell Engineering, National Institute of Biostructures and Biosystems-Eldor Lab, Innovation Accelerator, Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche, 40129 Bologna, Italy
Margherita Maioli
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale San Pietro 43/B, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Human adipose tissue-derived stem cells (hADSCs) are highly suitable for regeneration therapies being easily collected and propagated in vitro. The effects of different external factors and culturing conditions are able to affect hADSC proliferation, senescence, differentiation, and migration, even at the molecular level. In the present paper, we exposed hADSCs to an exhausted medium from the breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) to evaluate whether the soluble factors released by these cells may be able to induce changes in stem cell behavior. In particular, we investigated the expression of stemness-related genes (OCT4; Sox 2; Nanog), the cell-cycle regulators p21 (WAF1/CIP1) p53, epigenetic markers (DNMT1 and Sirt1), and autophagy-related proteins. From our results, we can infer that the exhausted medium from MCF-7 is able to influence the hADSCs behavior increasing the expression of stemness-related genes, cell proliferation, and autophagy. Polyamines detectable in MCF-7 exhausted medium could be related to the higher proliferation capability observed in hADSCs, suggesting direct crosstalk between these molecules and the observed changes in stem cell potency.
