ISSN: 1449-1907International Journal of Medical Sciences
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Int J Med Sci 2020; 17(9):1257-1268. doi:10.7150/ijms.44285 This issue Cite
Research Paper
IL-1β Promotes Stemness of Tumor Cells by Activating Smad/ID1 Signaling Pathway
1. Department of Medical Oncology, Guangzhou First People's Hospital, School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, 510180
2. Department of Medical Oncology, Guangzhou First People's Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, 510180
3. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Ji'an City Center People's Hospital, Jiangxi, China, 343000
#Lin Lu, Peipei Wang and Yonghong Zou contributed equally to this work.
Abstract
Background: IL-1β is reported to be involved in cancer development and distant metastasis. However, the underlying mechanism of IL-1β upon malignant behaviors remains largely unknown. In this study, we aimed to study whether IL-1β could enhance the stemness traits of tumor cells.
Methods: The concentrations of serum IL-1β in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and melanoma patients were detected using ELISA assay. The effect and mechanisms of IL-1β on tumor cell growth, migration, invasion and stemness characters were studied using HNSCC cell SCC7 and melanoma cell B16-F10. The underlying mechanisms were further explored.
Results: Enhanced concentrations of IL-1β were positively correlated with advanced tumor stage in both HNSCC and melanoma patients. IL-1β treatment led to a significant increase in tumor growth both in vitro and in vivo. IL-1β stimulation promoted cell proliferation, colony formation and tumorigenicity. In addition, IL-1β-stimulated tumor cells gained enhanced capabilities on wounding healing and invasion capabilities. Moreover, IL-1β stimulation promoted the stem-like capabilities of both HNSCC cells and melanoma cells, including the enrichment of aldehyde dehydrogenase+ (ALDH+) cells, up-regulation of stem cell related markers Nanog, OCT4, and SOX2, sphere formation and chemoresistance. Mechanistically, IL-1β treatment promoted the phosphorylation of Smad1/5/8 and activated its downstream target inhibitor of differentiation 1 (ID1). Silencing ID1 abrogated sphere formation and upregulated expression of stemness genes which were induced by IL-1β stimulation.
Conclusion: Our data demonstrates that IL-1β promotes the stemness of HNSCC and melanoma cells through activating Smad/ID1 signal pathway.
Keywords: IL-1β, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), melanoma, stemness, Smad/ID1 signal pathway
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