A subpopulation of stromal cells controls cancer cell homing to the bone marrow

Breast and prostate cancer cells home to the bone marrow where they presumably hijack the hematopoietic stem cell niche. We characterize here the elusive premetastatic niche by examining the role of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) in cancer cell homing. Decreasing the number of MSC pharmacologically enhanced cancer cell homing to the bone marrow in mice. In contrast, increasing the number of these MSC by various interventions including G-CSF administration diminished cancer cell homing. The MSC subpopulation that correlated best with cancer cells expressed stem, endothelial, and pericytic cell markers suggesting these cells represent an undifferentiated component of the niche with vascular commitment. In humans, a MSC subpopulation carrying markers for endothelial and pericytic cells was lower in the presence of cytokeratin+ cells in bone marrow. Taken together, our data show that a subpopulation of MSC with both endothelial and pericytic cell surface markers suppresses the homing of cancer cells to the bone marrow. Similar to the presence of cytokeratin+ cells in the bone marrow, this mesenchymal stromal cell subpopulation could prove useful in determining the risk of metastatic disease, and its manipulation might offer a new possibility for diminishing bone metastasis formation.

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