Human umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular matrix prohibits metastatic cancer cell MDA-MB-231 proliferation

It is not clear whether adult stem cell extracellular matrix (ECM) can regulate cancer cells. We demonstrated that the ECM produced by UCB-MSCs was able to arrest the growth of metastatic tumor cells by upregulating levels of PTEN in aggressive cancer cells. Human UCB-MSCs produced dickkopf (DKK1) are capable of inhibiting cancer cell proliferation but has no contribution to the tumor inhibition effect of UCB-MSC ECM. This study also provides an innovative approach to specifically examine the effect of stem cell microenvironments on cancer cells without the complexity of cell–cell interactions. In conclusion, human UCB-MSC ECM prohibits cancer cell proliferation.