Bie Jia Jian pill enhances the amelioration of bone mesenchymal stem cells on hepatocellular carcinoma progression

Abstract Background The therapeutic efficiency of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in suppressing the recurrence and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been well proved. Objective The aim of this study is to investigate the role of Bie Jia Jian pill (BJJP) combined with bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in HCC progression. Methods Flow cytometry was used to identify BMSCs isolated from BALB/c mice. The expressions of biomarkers and apoptosis rate of cancer stem cells (CSCs) enriched from Huh7 cells were also measured. The osteogenic differentiation and adipogenic differentiation ability of isolated BMSCs was determined by oil red O staining and Alizarin Red Staining. CSCs were used to establish the orthotopic HCC model. Histological changes in the liver tissues were examined by hematoxylin–eosin (H&E) staining and Van Gieson (VG) staining. The cell apoptotic rate in the cancer tissues was detected by TUNEL staining. The cell proliferation antigen Ki67 in the cancer tissues were detected by immunofluorescence assay and PCR, respectively. The levels of CSCs cellular surface markers (CD24, CD133 and EpCAM) and Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway related proteins were detected by PCR and western blot. Results Treatment of BJJP or BMSCs both improved the morphology induced by HCC and suppressed the differentiation ability of CSCs, as evidenced by down-regulated expressions of CD24, CD133, EpCAM and Ki67. The protective effect of BJJP or BMSCs in cancer tissues can be enhanced by the combination of BJJP and BMSCs. In addition to that, BJJP or BMSCs alone was found to increase the expression of miR-140 and promote cell apoptosis in CSCs, while down-regulation of miR-140 partially reversed the protective effect of BMSCs or BJJP + BMSCs on cancer tissues. BJJP + BMSCs treatment together also can down-regulate the expressions of Wnt3a and β-catenin. Conclusions These results proved the inhibitory role of BJJP + BMSCs in HCC development through regulating miR-140 and Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway.