Dynamics of intercellular and exosomal miRNAs in hypoxia-resistant U266 cells

In multiple myeloma (MM), abnormal plasma cells interact with bone marrow (BM) stromal cells and vascular cells among others. A part of the BM milieu is considered highly hypoxic, and myeloma cells in situ may be influenced by circumstances other than normoxia in vitro. Hence, we attempted to confirm the role of hypoxic MM-derived exosomes in the BM milieu. We established a novel hypoxia-resistant cell line, U266HR, derived from U266 cells cultured for >4 months under hypoxia (1% O2), as a model of MM cells localizing in an extensively hypoxic milieu. We used U266 cells and U266HR cells, as donor cells, and HUVECs as recipient cells. Exosomes derived from U266 cells (normoxia or hypoxia) and exosomes derived from U266HR cells (hypoxia-resistant sub-line) were used for validation of angiogeneic activity, such as tube formation assay. Exosomes derived from the U266HR cells significantly increased tube formation of HUVECs than those from U266 cells. To identify intercellular and exosomal miRNAs specifically expressed in hypoxia-resistant cells, we assess the expression profiles of intercellular and extracellular miRNAs in U266 cells and U266HR cells using Taqman MicroRNA Array v2.0 (Applied Biosystems, Bedford, MA).