title: Antibodies to interleukin-6 inhibit Schwann cell proliferation induced by unfractionated cytokines.
abstract: We have previously demonstrated that unfractionated cytokines induce proliferation of neonatal rat Schwann cells in vitro. Incubation of Schwann cells with natural or recombinant human interleukin-1 (IL-1) does not induce Schwann cell proliferation, but antibodies to IL-1 inhibit Schwann cell proliferation induced by unfractionated cytokines of human origin. In this study we investigated the effect of interleukin-6 (IL-6), another monokine, on proliferation of rat Schwann cells. Incubation of Schwann cells with recombinant (r) mouse IL-6 and two types of human rIL-6 did not induce proliferation of Schwann cells or of endoneurial fibroblasts. However, antibodies to rhIL-6 inhibited Schwann cell proliferation induced by unfractionated cytokines but had no effect on fibroblast proliferation. Addition of excess rhIL-6 to a mixture of unfractionated cytokines plus anti-rhIL-6 abrogated the inhibitory effect of the anti-rhIL-6. Therefore, IL-6 is a co-mitogen for neonatal Schwann cells in vitro.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48201.
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Lisak
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bealmear
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D000906:Antibodies / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D016207:Cytokines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000276:immunology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012583:Schwann Cells / Q000166:cytology*
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D016207:Cytokines; D015850:Interleukin-6; D011994:Recombinant Proteins