The effects and mechanism of IL-6 on the epithelial to mesenchymal transition of pancreatic cancer cells / 中华肝胆外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effects and mechanism of IL-6 on the epithelial to mesenchymal transition of human pancreatic cancer cells.Methods IL-6 was added into the culture media of human pancreatic cancer cells Capan-2,SW1990,and STAT3-siRNA-SW1990.Cell growth was measured by MTT assays.STAT3,p-STAT3,Snail,Twist,and E-cadherin mRNA and protein expression were examined using real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)and Western blot,respectively.The invasion abilities of SW1990 and Capan-2 cells were determined by a cell invasion assay in vitro.Results Our results showed that 100 μg/L of IL-6 significantly promoted the growth and invasion abilities of Capan-2 and SW1990 cells (P＜0.05).The use of IL-6 not only markedly increased the protein expression of P-STAT3 and Snail,but also greatly decreased the mRNA and protein expression of E-cadherin.The use of IL-6 can not change the mRNA and protein expression of Snail and E-cadherin.Conclusion Activation of the STAT3 signal transducer pathway with IL-6 can promote the epithelial to mesenchymal transition of pancreatic cancer cells in vitro through up-regulation of Snail and down-regulation of E-cadherin expression.Therefore the STAT3 signal transducer may provide a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.