Inflammation Influences Growth and Spread of Prostate Cancer

A team of Austrian cell biologist has identified a prostate cancer cell protein that is able to retard tumor growth by inhibiting cell proliferation.

Initial experiments conducted by investigators from Innsbruck Medical University (Austria) established that the SOCS-1 protein (suppressor of cytokine signaling) was present in most prostate cancers as well as in precancerous tissues. As its name indicates, this protein is involved in metabolic pathways that suppress cytokine signaling.

To determine how SOCS-1 functions intracellular, the investigators treated cultures of prostate cancer cells with interleukin-6 (IL-6), a cytokine protein that plays a key role in inflammatory processes. They reported in the March 26, 2009, online edition of the American Journal of Pathology (AJP) that SOCS-1 was upregulated by interleukin-6, and that this upregulation significantly impaired cell proliferation. While the concentration of SOCS-1 in the cells increased, there was no change in the level of specific mRNA required for SOCS-1 synthesis.

Senior author Dr. Zoran Culig, professor of urology at Innsbruck Medical University explained, "Although this result is rather surprising at first glance, the explanation may be very simple. It is entirely conceivable that IL-6 has a stabilizing effect on the mRNA and that SOCS-1 can thus be produced over a longer period. This also leads to a higher concentration in the cells."

Summing up, the current study showed that SOCS-1 is expressed in prostate cancer both in vitro and in vivo and acts as a negative growth regulator. These findings suggest that attention should be paid to links with inflammation-related processes when carrying out research into prostate cancer, since signaling pathways that are responsible for inflammation could influence the progression of tumor growth and proliferation.

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Innsbruck Medical University