Thymosinα1 stimulates cell proliferation by activating ERK1/2, JNK, and increasing cytokine secretion in human pancreatic cancer cells

2007 ◽  
Vol 248 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Li ◽  
Louis W. Feurino ◽  
Fei Li ◽  
Hao Wang ◽  
Qihui Zhai ◽  
...  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 417-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiang Chen ◽  
Jilai Tian ◽  
Gloria H. Su ◽  
Jiayuh Lin

Background:Elevated production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) and dysfunction of IL-6 signaling promotes tumorigenesis and are associated with poor survival outcomes in multiple cancer types. Recent studies showed that the IL-6/GP130/STAT3 signaling pathway plays a pivotal role in pancreatic cancer development and maintenance.Objective:We aim to develop effective treatments through inhibition of IL-6/GP130 signaling in pancreatic cancer.Methods:The effects on cell viability and cell proliferation were measured by MTT and BrdU assays, respectively. The effects on glycolysis was determined by cell-based assays to measure lactate levels. Protein expression changes were evaluated by western blotting and immunoprecipitation. siRNA transfection was used to knock down estrogen receptor α gene expression. Colony forming ability was determined by colony forming cell assay.Results:We demonstrated that IL-6 can induce pancreatic cancer cell viability/proliferation and glycolysis. We also showed that a repurposing FDA-approved drug bazedoxifene could inhibit the IL-6/IL-6R/GP130 complexes. Bazedoxifene also inhibited JAK1 binding to IL-6/IL-6R/GP130 complexes and STAT3 phosphorylation. In addition, bazedoxifene impeded IL-6 mediated cell viability/ proliferation and glycolysis in pancreatic cancer cells. Consistently, other IL-6/GP130 inhibitors SC144 and evista showed similar inhibition of IL-6 stimulated cell viability, cell proliferation and glycolysis. Furthermore, all three IL-6/GP130 inhibitors reduced the colony forming ability in pancreatic cancer cells.Conclusion:Our findings demonstrated that IL-6 stimulates pancreatic cancer cell proliferation, survival and glycolysis, and supported persistent IL-6 signaling is a viable therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer using IL-6/GP130 inhibitors.


Cancer ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 106 (10) ◽  
pp. 2284-2294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Li ◽  
Qihui Zhai ◽  
Uddalak Bharadwaj ◽  
Hao Wang ◽  
Fei Li ◽  
...  

Pharmacology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 103 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 250-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eri Usugi ◽  
Kenichiro Ishii ◽  
Yoshifumi Hirokawa ◽  
Kazuki Kanayama ◽  
Chise Matsuda ◽  
...  

Background: Pirfenidone (PFD), which is an antifibrotic agent used for treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, induces G0/G1 cell cycle arrest in fibroblasts. We hypothesized that PFD-induced G0/G1 cell cycle arrest might be achieved in other types of cells, including cancer cells. Here we investigated the effects of PFD on the proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells (PCCs) in vitro. Method: Human skin fibroblasts ASF-4-1 cells and human prostate stromal cells (PrSC) were used as fibroblasts. PANC-1, MIA PaCa-2, and BxPC-3 cells were used as human PCCs. Cell cycle and apoptosis were analyzed using flow cytometer. Results: First, we confirmed that PFD suppressed cell proliferation of ASF-4-1 cells and PrSC and induced G0/G1 cell cycle arrest. Under these experimental conditions, PFD also suppressed cell proliferation and induced G0/G1 cell cycle arrest in all PCCs. In PFD-treated PCCs, expression of p21 was increased but that of CDK2 was not clearly decreased. Of note, PFD did not induce significant apoptosis among PCCs. Conclusions: These results demonstrated that the antifibrotic agent PFD might have antiproliferative effects on PCCs by inducing G0/G1 cell cycle arrest. This suggests that PFD may target not only fibroblasts but also PCCs in the tumor microenvironment of pancreatic cancer.


2017 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 816-826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kento Tsubouchi ◽  
Kazumasa Minami ◽  
Naoki Hayashi ◽  
Yuhki Yokoyama ◽  
Seiji Mori ◽  
...  

Abstract Resistance to chemoradiotherapy is one reason for the increased recurrence rate of pancreatic cancer after these therapies. These cells change the expression levels of several proteins, such as epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), while acquiring the chemo- or radio-resistance. In this study, we focused on CD44, a pancreatic cancer stem cell marker. CD44 has isoforms with different functions: standard isoform (CD44s) and several variant isoforms (CD44v). However, little is known about the roles of these isoforms after ionizing irradiation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of CD44 isoforms in radioresistance of pancreatic cancer cells. AsPC-1 (a human pancreatic cancer cell line) was irradiated with 4 MV X-rays. The mRNA and protein levels of CD44s were strongly upregulated, dose dependently, compared with CD44v after irradiation. Thus, we further investigated CD44s at the point of cell proliferation. We evaluated cell proliferation and survival, using CD44s knockdown cells. CD44s knockdown did not change the proliferation rate for up to 72 h after the irradiation, but decreased cell viability in the colony formation assay. As one of the reasons for these effects, we found downregulation of phosphorylated extracellular signal–regulated kinase (Erk; which is involved with cell proliferation) by CD44s knockdown, time dependently. Moreover, radiation-induced EMT-like expression changes were detected and suppressed by CD44s knockdown. In conclusion, our work demonstrated that CD44 standard isoform was especially upregulated after high-dose X-ray irradiation in several isoforms of CD44 and contributed to longer-term cell survival after the irradiation through the maintenance of Erk phosphorylation and radiation-induced EMT.


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