Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells Provide an Alternate Pathway of Osteoclast Activation and Bone Destruction by Cancer Cells

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Abstract
The bone is the third most common site of cancer metastasis. To invade the bone, tumor cells produce osteoclast-activating factors that increase bone resorption by osteoclasts. Here we report that human neuroblastoma cells that form osteolytic lesions in vivo do not produce osteoclast-activating factors but rather stimulate osteoclast activity in the presence of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. This alternative pathway of osteoclast activation involves a nonadhesive interaction between neuroblastoma cells and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. Stimulated bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells express markedly increased levels of interleukin-6, which is then responsible for osteoclast activation. This report describes a critical role of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in bone destruction in cancer.