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Research Paper
IL-6 Stimulates Th2 Type Cytokine Secretion and Upregulates VEGF and NRP-1 Expression in Pancreatic Cancer Cells
Louis W. Feurino, Yuqing Zhang, Uddalak Bharadwaj, Rongxin Zhang, Fei Li, William E. Fisher, F. Charles Brunicardi, Changyi Chen, Qizhi Yao and Min Li
volume 6 | issue 7
July 2007Pages: 1096 - 1100
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BACKGROUND. Although upregulation of interleukin-6 (IL-6) is associated with many solid tumors, its role in pancreatic cancer has not been well elucidated. In this study, we examined the expression of IL-6 in pancreatic cancer cells, and determined the effect of exogenous IL-6 on cytokine secretion, gene expression, and signaling in human pancreatic cancer cells. METHODS. The mRNA levels of IL-6, VEGF165, neuropilin-1 (NRP-1), and neuropilin-2 (NRP-2) were determined by real-time RT PCR. Phosphorylation of ERK2 in pancreatic cancer cells was determined by using Bio-Plex phosphoprotein assay. The expression of IL-6 and other cytokines in human pancreatic cancer cell lines was determined with Bio-Plex cytokine assay. RESULTS. Pancreatic cancer cell lines expressed higher levels of IL-6 than normal human pancreatic ductal epithelium (HPDE) cells. Exogenous IL-6 increased the secretion of multiple Th2 type of cytokines in Panc-1, MIA PaCa-2, and BxPC-3 cells. IL-6 also upregulated the expression of VEGF165, and NRP-1, and both IL-6 and VEGF165 were inducible by hypoxia. In addition, IL-6 activated ERK2 signaling pathways in pancreatic cancer cells. CONCLUSIONS. IL-6 may be involved in promoting human pancreatic cancer development by furnishing Th2 type of cytokine environment and upregulating cell proliferation and angiogenesis related genes. Targeting IL-6 might be an effective treatment for pancreatic cancer.
We now provide open access to journal articles published online for one year or more. This article may be downloaded at the following link:
Download PDFIf the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.