Background: Interleukin-1 promotes tumor angiogenesis through VEGF production. The interleukin-1 receptor antagonist can suppress tumors by blocking this effect.
Methods: Immunohistochemistry, WB, and gene sequencing were used to analyze the expression of IL-1RA in esophageal cancer patients. WB was used to detect the expression of IL-1RA and interleukin-1α in esophageal cancer cells. Stable ESCC cell models overexpressing the IL-1RA were constructed. Their cell functions were tested, and their effects on VEGF were examined.
Results: IL-1RA is downregulated in primary EC tumors, and this downregulation of IL-1RA is closely related to TNM staging and survival prognosis. The overexpression of IL-1RA increased the proliferation of KYSE410 EC cells, which have a high level of IL-1α expression. Overexpression of IL-1RA in KYSE410 cells promotes a decrease in the expression of VEGF-A. However, IL-1RA expression did not cause any changes in EC9706 cells with low IL-1α expression.
Conclusion: IL-1RA acts as a tumor suppressor, and its deletion promotes tumor progression by increasing VEGF-A expression in ESCC.
Keywords: IL-1RA; VEGF; esophageal cancer.
© 2019 The Authors. Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.