Direct contacts with colon cancer cells regulate the differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells into tumor associated fibroblasts

Tumor-stroma interactions are referred to as essential events in tumor progression. There has been growing attention that bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) can travel to tumor stroma, where they differentiate into tumor-associated fibroblast (TAF)-like cells, a predominant tumor-promoting stromal cell. However, little is definitively known about the contributors for this transition. Here, using an in vitro direct co-culture model of colon cancer cells and BMSCs, we identify that colon cancer cells can induce adjoining BMSCs to exhibit the typical characteristic of TAFs, with increased expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA). Importantly, the present data also reveals that activated Notch signaling mediates transformation of BMSCs to TAFs through the downstream TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway.