Xenogeneic fibroblasts inhibit the growth of the breast and ovarian cancer cell lines in co-culture

Cell-based therapies cure some hematologic malignancies, although little information exists on solid cancer cell responses. The study objective was to test the hypothesis that xenogeneic fibroblasts can inhibit the growth of human cancer cell lines in vitro. Seven human cell lines (pancreatic cancer HPAF II; brain cancer U-87 MG; fibrosarcoma; ovarian cancer OVCAR3 and SKOV3; and breast cancer MCF7 and MDA-MB231) were co-cultured with two xenogeneic fibroblast cell lines (CV-1; monkey, Cercopithecus aethiops and DF-1; chicken, Gallus gallus) in a Transwell culture system. Cancer cell proliferation was assessed colorimetrically. Different concentrations of breast and ovarian cancer cells were tested. Gene expression induced by DF-1 xenogeneic fibroblasts was assessed by RNAseq of MCF7 breast cancer cells. The proliferation of the majority of the cancer cell lines was altered by co-culture with xenogeneic fibroblasts. Cell proliferation was increased (4-17%) by CV-1; DF-1 increased brain cancer cell proliferation (16%), decreased breast and ovarian cancer cell growth (15 and 26% respectively) but did not affect fibrosarcoma and pancreatic cancer cells. When the initial cancer cell concentrations were lowered 4-fold, growth inhibition of breast and ovarian cancer increased more than 2-fold. DF-1 fibroblasts induced significant differential expression of 484 genes in MCF7 breast cancer cells; 285 genes were downregulated and 199 genes were upregulated compared to control. Genes involved in the immune response were the major downregulated entities. RNAseq results were validated by qRT-PCR of 12 genes. The results show that xenogeneic fibroblasts can alter the growth and gene expression of cancer cells in vitro. This suggests a potentially novel investigational approach to the control of cancer cell growth.