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Updated: Jun 24, 2026
A Three-dimensional Tissue Culture Model to Study Primary Human Bone Marrow and its Malignancies
Published on: March 8, 2014
Plasma Cell Proliferation Is Reduced in Myeloma-Induced Hypercalcemia and in Co-Culture with Normal Healthy BM-MSCs
Nader Vazifeh Shiran1, Saeid Abroun1
1Department of Hematology and Blood Banking, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
Objective:
In multiple myeloma (MM), stimulation of osteoclasts and bone marrow (BM) lesions lead to hypercalcemia, renal failure, and anemia. Co-culture of the myeloma cells in both hypocalcemia and hypercalcemia concentrations with bone marrow-mesenchymal stem cells were evaluated.
Materials And Methods:
Viability and survival of myeloma cells were assessed by microculture tetrazolium test and flow cytometric assays. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were extracted from normal and myeloma patients and were co-cultured with myeloma cells.
Results:
Myeloma cells showed less survival in both hypocalcaemia and hypercalcemia conditions (P <.01). The paracrine and juxtacrine conditions of demineralized bone matrix-induced hypercalcemia increased the proliferation and survival of the cells (P <.05). Unlike myeloma MSCs, normal MSCs reduced the survival of and induced apoptosis in myeloma cells (P <.1).
Conclusion:
Normal healthy-MSCs do not protect myeloma cells, but inhibit them. However, increasing the ratio of myeloma cells to MSCs reduces their inhibitory effects of MSCs and leads to their myelomatous transformation.
