Abstract
Metformin, a popular drug used to treat diabetes, has recently gained attention as a potentially useful therapeutic agent for treating cancer. In our research metformin was added to in vitro cultures of bone marrow-derived multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs) and Balb/3T3 fibroblast at concentration of 1 mM, 5 mM, and 10 mM. Obtained results indicated that metformin negatively affected proliferation activity of investigated cells. The drug triggered the formation of autophagosomes and apoptotic bodies in all tested cultures. Additionally, we focused on determination of expression of genes involved in insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) signaling pathway. The most striking finding was that the mRNA level of IGF2 was constant in both BMSCs and Balb/3T3. Further, the analysis of IGF2 concentration in cell supernatants showed that it decreased in BMSC cultures after 5 and 10 mM metformin treatments. In case of Balb/3T3 the concentration of IGF2 in culture supernatants decreased after 1 and 5 mM and increased after 10 mM of metformin. Our results suggest that metformin influences the cytophysiology of somatic cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner causing inhibition of proliferation and abnormalities of their morphology and ultrastructure.
Highlights
Metformin is a common drug used worldwide in the treatment of diabetes mellitus
We have evaluated the effect of metformin in vitro using murine primary cultures of bone marrow-derived multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells and Balb/3T3 fibroblast cell line
The analysis showed that bone marrow-derived multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs), isolated according to the method described, expressed markers specific for multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells, that is, CD51, CD73, CD90, and CD105
Summary
Metformin is a common drug used worldwide in the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Metformin inhibits the proliferation of a range of cancer cells, including breast [4,5,6], oral cavity [7], pancreas [8], and ovarian cells [9]. Effectiveness of this agent as an anticancer drug is associated with its cytostatic properties and with proapoptotic action in tumor cells [7, 10, 11]
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