Mesenchymal stem cells promote osteosarcoma cell survival and drug resistance through activation of STAT3

Increasing evidence suggests that the tumor microenvironment plays a key role in the development of drug resistant tumor cells. In this study, we tried to determine whether the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the tumor microenvironment contribute to the increased chemoresistance of osteosarcoma. We found that exposure of Saos-2 and U2-OS cells to MSCs conditioned medium (CM) increased the viable cells in the presence of therapeutic concentrations of doxorubicin or cisplatin. Meanwhile, the MSC CM-associated pro-proliferative effects were accompanied by reduced caspase 3/7 activity and Annexin V binding. We confirmed that STAT3 activation by IL-6 regulates MSCs-induced chemoresistance. Blockade of this signal re-sensitized drug-resistant Saos-2 cells to drug treatment. Using a osteosarcoma mouse model with co-injection of MSCs with Saos-2cells, we found that inhibition of STAT3 prolonged the survival time of tumor bearing mice by suppressing tumor growth and increasing the sensitivity of tumor cells to doxorubicin. Finally, we demonstrated that increased expression of p-STAT3, multidrug resistance protein (MRP) and P-glycoprotein (MDR-1) was associated with high chemotherapy resistance in clinical osteosarcoma samples. Collectively, our findings suggest that MSCs within the tumor microenvironment may represent a new target to enhance chemotherapeutic efficacy in osteosarcoma patients.