title: Retinoic acid inhibits pancreatic cancer cell migration and EMT through the downregulation of IL-6 in cancer associated fibroblast cells.
abstract: Retinoic acid (RA) is a small molecular derivative of vitamin A that is stored in quiescent stellate cells in pancreas stroma. Cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are activated fibroblast cells in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma tumor microenvironment. We treated CAFs with RA and found that these cells became static due to the low expression of α-SMA, FAP, and IL-6 and decreased production of extracellular matrix (ECM). Furthermore, we verified that the low secretion of IL-6 from CAFs was related to RA-induced inhibition of migration and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of tumor cells. However, RA could not inhibit the migration and EMT of tumor cells directly. Therefore, our study showed that one of the therapeutic effects of RA on tumor cells is through its modulation of CAFs in tumor microenvironment. The tumor microenvironment plays an important role in promoting tumor migration and might be a promising target of biological treatment.
authors: Department of Pathology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing 100730, PR China.
authors: Jian
authors: J
authors: Guan
authors: Department of Pathology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing 100730, PR China.
authors: Hui
authors: H
authors: Zhang
authors: Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing 100730, PR China.
authors: Zhang
authors: Z
authors: Wen
authors: Department of Pathology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing 100730, PR China.
authors: Yumei
authors: Y
authors: Gu
authors: Department of Pathology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing 100730, PR China.
authors: Yin
authors: Y
authors: Cheng
authors: Department of Pathology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing 100730, PR China.
authors: Yang
authors: Y
authors: Sun
authors: Department of Pathology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing 100730, PR China.
authors: Tingting
authors: T
authors: Zhang
authors: Department of Pathology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing 100730, PR China.
authors: Congwei
authors: C
authors: Jia
authors: Department of Pathology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing 100730, PR China.
authors: Zhaohui
authors: Z
authors: Lu
authors: Department of Pathology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing 100730, PR China. Electronic address: xhblk@163.com.
authors: Jie
authors: J
authors: Chen
mesh_terms: D021441:Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects*; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D015536:Down-Regulation; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / Q000187:drug effects; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6; D014212:Tretinoin
keywords: Cancer associated fibroblast cells; EMT; Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; Retinoic acid; Tumor microenvironment; Tumor migration