Morphology, differentiation and adhesion molecule expression changes of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells from acute myeloid leukemia patients

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) have been identified as an important component of the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) niche, which is essential for the maintenance of HSCs. HSC niche alternation has been considered to be the main cause of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, little is known with regard to BMSC alteration in AML patients. BMSCs were collected from 10 AML patients and 13 controls in order to examine the morphology, differentiation and adhesion molecule expression changes. It was observed that primary BMSCs from AML patients exhibited aberrant morphologies compared with those from the controls. Prior to adipogenic differentiation, the mRNA and protein levels of the lipid marker gene lipoprotein lipase, from the BMSCs of AML patients, were significantly higher. lipid drops were present early during differentiation in the BMSCs of AML patients and exhibited greater numbers later. Following adipogenic differentiation, the mRNA level of E-cadherin in the BMSCs of AML patients was significantly lower than that identified in the BMSCs of the control groups. Following osteogenic induction, the mRNA level of E-cadherin in the BMSCs of AML patients was significantly higher than in the controls. Therefore BMSCs from the AML patients exhibited irregular morphology, tendency to pre-differentiate to adipocytes and different adhesion molecule expression following differentiation. These differences may further our understanding of the HSC niche in the pathological condition.