Interleukin-18 induces transferrin expression in breast cancer cell line MCF-7

Park, Sunyoung; Yoon, Sun Young; Kim, Kyung-Eun; Lee, Ha Reum; Hur, Dae Young; Song, Hyunkeun; Kim, Daejin; Bang, Sa Ik; Cho, Dae-Ho

doi:10.1016/j.canlet.2009.05.025

« Previous Next »Cancer Letters
Volume 286, Issue 2 , Pages 189-195, 28 December 2009

Interleukin-18 induces transferrin expression in breast cancer cell line MCF-7

Sunyoung Park
- Department of Life Science, Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Sun Young Yoon
- Department of Life Science, Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Kyung-Eun Kim
- Department of Life Science, Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Ha Reum Lee
- Department of Life Science, Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Dae Young Hur
- Department of Anatomy and Research Center for Women’s Disease, Inje University Busan Paik Hospital, Busan, Republic of Korea
Hyunkeun Song
- Department of Anatomy and Research Center for Women’s Disease, Inje University Busan Paik Hospital, Busan, Republic of Korea
Daejin Kim
- Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, Chung Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Sa Ik Bang
- Department of Plastic Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Corresponding authors. Addresses: Department of Plastic Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, 50 Ilwon-dong, Kangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 2 3410 2215; fax: +82 2 3410 0036 (S.I. Bang), Department of Life Science, Sookmyung Women’s University, 52 Hyochangwon-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul 140-742, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 2 710 9416; fax: +82 2 6359 6789 (D.-H. Cho).
Dae-Ho Cho
- Department of Life Science, Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Corresponding authors. Addresses: Department of Plastic Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, 50 Ilwon-dong, Kangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 2 3410 2215; fax: +82 2 3410 0036 (S.I. Bang), Department of Life Science, Sookmyung Women’s University, 52 Hyochangwon-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul 140-742, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 2 710 9416; fax: +82 2 6359 6789 (D.-H. Cho).

Received 30 September 2008; received in revised form 21 May 2009; accepted 25 May 2009. published online 17 June 2009.

Abstract

Interleukin-18 (IL-18) has recently been shown to have a pro-cancer effect in various cancers. Increased serum levels of both IL-18 and transferrin in cancer patients are correlated with its malignancy. However, the relationship between transferrin and IL-18 is not well understood. Here, we show that exogenous transferrin enhanced breast cancer cell proliferation and the proliferation rate was reduced when endogenous transferrin expression was inhibited by transferrin siRNA. The expression of endogenous transferrin was found to be regulated by IL-18. Furthermore, we found that the MAPK pathway is involved in IL-18-induced transferrin production. In conclusion, IL-18 is suggested as an inducer of endogenous transferrin expression in breast cancer cells.

Keywords: Interleukin-18 (IL-18), Transferrin, Proliferation, Breast cancer