Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells suppress lung cancer via TLR4/NF-κB signalling pathway

Figures & data

Table 1. Primer sequences for RT-PCR.

Target genes	Upstream primer sequences (5′-3′)	Downstream primer sequences (3′-5′)
TLR4	CATGGATCAGAAACTCAGCAAAGTC	CATGCCATGCCTTGTCTTCA
NF-κB	GAACGATAACCTTTGCAGGC	TTTCGATTCCGCTATGTGTG
Bax	CCCGAGAGGTCTTTTTCCGAG	CCAGCCCATGATGGTTCTGAT
bcl-2	GGTGGGGTCATGTGTGTGG	CGGTTCAGGTACTCAGTCATCC
IL-1	GAAGAAGAGCCC ATC CTCTG	TCATCTCGC AGCCTG TAGTG
IL-6	ACAACCACGGCCTTCCCTACTT	CACGATTTCCCAGAGAACATGTG
TNF-α	GCCAACGGCATGGATCTC	GCAGCCTTGTCCCTTGAAGAG
β-actin	TGCCGACAGGATGCAGAAG	GCTGATCCACATCTGCTGGAA

Figure 1. Lewis lung tumour volumes in mouse model. Experimental group (n = 10) received caudal vein injection of 1 × 10⁶ hucMSCs each week for consecutive two weeks. Control group (n = 10) received caudal vein injection of equal amount of saline at the same time. *p < 0.05 compared with control group at the same time point.

Table 2. Comparison of tumour weight and thymus index.

Groups	N	Tumour weight (g)	Thymus index (g/10 g)
Control	10	4.04 ± 0.10	0.0021 ± 0.00015
Experimental	10	3.03 ± 0.07*	0.0032 ± 0.00014*

Note: *p < 0.05 compared with control group.

Figure 2. Contents of inflammatory factors IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-α in tumour tissues from mice. Experimental group (n = 10) received caudal vein injection of 1 × 10⁶ hucMSCs each week for consecutive two weeks. Control group (n = 10) received caudal vein injection of equal amount of saline at the same time. ELISA was used to determine IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-α contents in lung cancer tissues. *p < 0.05.

Figure 3. Relative expression of TLR4, NF-κB, Bcl-2, Bax, IL-6, IL-1 and TNF-α mRNA in tumour tissues from mice. Experimental group (n = 10) received caudal vein injection of 1 × 10⁶ hucMSCs each week for consecutive two weeks. Control group (n = 10) received caudal vein injection of equal amount of saline at the same time. RT-PCR was used to measure the level of mRNA. *p < 0.05.

Figure 4. Relative expression of Bcl-2, Bax, TLR4 and NF-κB proteins in tumour tissues from mice. Experimental group (n = 10) received caudal vein injection of 1 × 10⁶ hucMSCs each week for consecutive two weeks. Control group (n = 10) received caudal vein injection of equal amount of saline at the same time. Western blotting was used to determine protein expression. *p < 0.05.