Cell competition for cancer treatment with Urine Progenitor Cells

Abstract

Here, we provide evidence that urine progenitor cells (UPCs) might offer a novel therapeutic strategy for treating different types of cancer. We found that UPCs have inherent antitumor properties due to cell-cell competition, and we described their mechanism of action against different tumor cell lines. In vitro time-lapse analysis showed that the UPCs have tumor tropic properties, homing to various tumor-conditioned mediums. Besides, UPCs engineered for the expression of cytotoxic agents (the Tumor Necrosis Factor ligand superfamily member 10 and Herpesvirus-thymidine kinase) significantly increased their antitumor properties against several tumor cell lines and proved to serve as highly effective drug-delivery vehicles. Finally, using a mouse model of human triple-negative breast cancer, we observed a 150-fold decrease in tumor volumes in mice treated with engineered UPCs compared to controls. Collectively, our findings demonstrate for the first time the antitumor properties of the UPCs and form a foundation to continue exploring the new concept of cell-cell competition in progenitor cells to treat different types of cancer.