inhibitory effect of mesenchymal stem cells co culture on erythroid differentiation of k562 cells compared to control group

objective: bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells reside in bone marrow and support homing and differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells (1). this makes them an excellent instrument for regenerative treatment and co-culture with the hsc. materials and methods: in this study, k562 cell lines were treated with butyric acid(for erythroid differentiation), co-cultured with mesenchymal stem cells and cultivated in a conditioned medium from mesenchymal stem cells. cell counts and cell viability in each stage, were determined by trypan blue dye exclusion. in each stage separately, the erythroid differentiation of the k562 cell line with giemsa staining under light microscopy, expression of specific markers of erythroid cells by flowcytometery performed and erythroid-specific gene’s expression was analyzed by real time pcr. results: erythroid differentiation of the k562 cells with butyric acid, is higher than k562 cell line co-cultured with mesenchymal stem cells and butyric acid. and erythroid differentiation of the k562 cell line cultivated in a conditioned medium with butyric acid, is higher than k562 cell line co-cultured with mesenchymal stem cells and butyric acid but less than k562 cell line treated by butyric acid only. conclusion: our results showed that mesenchymal stem cells significantly suppress erythropoiesis. therefore, mesenchymal stem cell is not the suitable optimal treatment strategy for patients with erythroid leukemia.