title: Chemokine CCL20 enhances the growth of HuH7 cells via phosphorylation of p44/42 MAPK in vitro.
abstract: CCR6 is the receptor of chemokine CCL20. In the present study, we demonstrated that the surface expression of CCR6 was enhanced on the human HCC cell lines (HuH7, PLC/PRF/5, and HepG2) especially on HuH7 cells, but not on HLE or HLF cells. These HCC cell lines (HuH7, PLC/PRF/5, and HepG2) especially the HuH7 cells secreted a significant amount of CCL20 spontaneously, whereas HLE or HLF did not. Stimulation by CCL20 up-regulated the mRNA expression of CCR6 in HuH7 cells and significantly enhanced the growth of HuH7 cells. CCL20-stimulated growth of HuH7 cells was abrogated by the inhibition of downstream signal transduction pathway mediated by p44/42 MAPK, but not by p38 MAPK or SAPK/JNK. CCR6 expression in human HCC tissues was confirmed by RT-PCR. These results indicate that the growth of a proportion of human HCC cells may be mediated by CCL20-CCR6 axis, like HuH7 cells, in an autocrine or paracrine manner.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Medical Science, Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Yoshito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: Kanji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Norihito
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamauchi
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Harano
authors.forename: Tomoki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: Masahito
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Minami
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okanoue
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D054418:Chemokine CCL20; D019742:Chemokines, CC / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D017931:DNA Primers; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms; D019402:Macrophage Inflammatory Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: C108355:CCL20 protein, human; D054418:Chemokine CCL20; D019742:Chemokines, CC; D017931:DNA Primers; D019402:Macrophage Inflammatory Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases