Objective: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is important in the tooth development and tumor invasion. We investigated the effect of interleukin-8 (IL-8) on the EMT process in primary-cultured ameloblastoma tumor cells (AM-P) and ameloblastoma immortalized tumor cells (AM-L) and its underlying mechanism.
Methods: IL-8 levels in ameloblastomas were detected by immunofluorescence staining and ELISA. AM-P cells and AM-L cells were stimulated with IL-8, and EMT transcription factors, total β-catenin and phosphorylated-β-catenin (p-β-catenin) levels were determined by Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence staining. β-catenin siRNA was used to knockdown β-catenin expression in AM-P cells and AM-L cells stimulated with IL-8.
Results: IL-8 was highly expressed in the solid ameloblastomas. IL-8 promoted the EMT process in ameloblastoma tumor cells in vitro, as evidenced by decreased E-cadherin and increased vimentin, twist and zeb1 levels. IL-8 also increased total β-catenin and p-β-catenin expression in ameloblastoma tumor cells, and β-catenin knockdown partially inhibited the EMT process in tumor cells, as evidenced by increased E-cadherin, and decreased vimentin and zeb1 levels.
Conclusions: IL-8 could promote EMT in ameloblastoma tumor cells by activating β-catenin and its downstream transcription factor zeb1.
Keywords: ameloblastoma; epithelial-mesenchymal transition; interleukin-8; zeb1; β-catenin.
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