title: Involvement of interleukin-6 and androgen receptor signaling in pancreatic cancer.
abstract: Pancreatic cancer remains one of the "difficult-to-treat" cancers. Signaling of androgen receptor (AR), one of the nuclear receptors, in the pancreas may be related to carcinogenesis. Higher interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels have been observed in pancreatic cancer patients. It is also well known that IL-6 affects the AR signaling pathway and that AR is important for cell migration activities. We demonstrated that IL-6 enhances the phosphorylation of STAT3 and MAPK, which in turn enhances AR-mediated transcription in pancreatic cancer cell lines. This activity was blocked by a pharmacological inhibitor of the JAK/STAT signaling pathway, AG490, and one of the MAPK signaling pathways, U0126. IL-6 also enhances pancreatic cancer cell migration in the presence of AR. This activity is blocked by AR-siRNA. IL-6 acts as a positive regulator in AR signaling, providing further insight into the progression of pancreatic carcinogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Clinical Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Kohichiroh
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okitsu
authors.forename: Tatsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanda
authors.forename: Fumio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Imazeki
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yonemitsu
authors.forename: Ratna B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.forename: Chawnshang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yokosuka