Retinoic acid inhibits interleukin-6-induced macrophage differentiation and apoptosis in a murine hematopoietic cell line, Y6

We established a radiation-induced murine hematopoietic cell line, Y6, that could be induced to differentiate into macrophages by interleukin- 6 (IL-6). IL-6 also induced growth inhibition and apoptosis in Y6 cells. Retinoic acid (RA) inhibited such effects of IL-6 on Y6 cells. The inhibitory effect of RA on the effects of IL-6 was not caused by the downregulation of the IL-6 receptor, because RA neither affected the expression of IL-6 receptor mRNA nor the expression of IL-6 receptor molecule on the cell surface. Furthermore, RA did not inhibit the IL-6-induced expression of junB mRNA, indicating that the expression of functionally active IL-6 receptor and the signal transduction pathway activating the junB gene are not inhibited by RA. IL-6-induced macrophage differentiation of Y6 cells was preceded by the downregulation of the c-myc gene, which was also prevented by RA. Because the inhibitory effect of RA on Y6 cells was reversible and seemed not to require de novo protein synthesis, the RA receptor by itself might be directly involved in the inhibition of the IL-6 signal transduction pathway. The results indicated that the IL-6 signal transduction pathways leading to the induction of macrophage differentiation and junB gene expression can be dissected by RA.