Targeted blockade of TGF-β and IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 pathways inhibits lung cancer growth promoted by bone marrow-derived myofibroblasts

Sci Rep. 2017 Aug 17;7(1):8660. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-09020-8.

Abstract

To investigate the role of TGF-β and IL-6 in myofibroblasts (MFs) - lung cancer cell interactions, lung cancer cells (Lewis and CTM-167 cell lines) were stimulated by IL-6, MF-conditioned medium (MF-CM) or MFs, with or without TGF-β signaling inhibitor - SB431542 and/or JAK2/STAT3 inhibitor - JSI-124. MFs were stimulated by TGF-β, cancer cell-CM or cancer cells, with or without SB431542 and JSI-124. Cell proliferation, the levels of cytokines, expression of mRNA and protein were determined. Mice bearing xenograft tumors were intraperitoneally treated with SB431542 or JSI-124 and monitored for up to 45 days. In co-culture systems, MFs secreted high levels of IL-6, while cancer cells produced high levels of TGF-β. Recombinant IL-6 and MF-CM activated STAT3 and upregulated TGF-β in cancer cells. In contrast, cancer cell-CM or TGF-β stimulated MFs to produce IL-6. Blockade of JAK2/STAT3 and TGF-β signaling by specific inhibitors significantly inhibited cell proliferation in vitro and tumor growth in vivo of lung cancer cells. Our study demontrated that the TGF-β and IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathways form a positive feedback signaling loop that mediated the interactions between MFs and lung cancer cells. Targeted inhibiton of this signaling loop could be a new approach for lung cancer prevention and therapy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology
  • Biomarkers
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Cytokines / biosynthesis
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Gene Expression
  • Humans
  • Interleukin-6 / metabolism*
  • Janus Kinase 2 / metabolism*
  • Lung Neoplasms / genetics
  • Lung Neoplasms / metabolism*
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Molecular Targeted Therapy
  • Myofibroblasts / drug effects*
  • Myofibroblasts / metabolism*
  • STAT3 Transcription Factor / metabolism*
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects*
  • Transforming Growth Factor beta / metabolism*
  • Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Biomarkers
  • Cytokines
  • Interleukin-6
  • STAT3 Transcription Factor
  • Transforming Growth Factor beta
  • JAK2 protein, human
  • Janus Kinase 2