Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Sep 10;68(5):27.
doi: 10.1007/s00005-020-00591-5.

IL-6 Contributes to the TGF-β1-Mediated Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition in Human Salivary Gland Epithelial Cells

Margherita Sisto  1 , Roberto Tamma  2 , Domenico Ribatti  2 , Sabrina Lisi  2
Affiliations
Free article

IL-6 Contributes to the TGF-β1-Mediated Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition in Human Salivary Gland Epithelial Cells

Margherita Sisto et al. Arch Immunol Ther Exp (Warsz). .
Free article

Abstract

To determine the role of IL-6 in bringing about the EMT, in SGEC obtained from healthy subjects. Human salivary gland (SGs) epithelial cells (SGEC) from primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) are able to synthesize interleukin (IL)-6, which is a critical mediator of the SGs modifications in response to chronic inflammation. Recently, a hypothetical link between epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-dependent salivary gland fibrosis and chronic inflammatory conditions has been suggested for pSS; the present study was conducted to evaluate this link. Primary cultures of human SGEC from salivary mucoceles were stimulated with increasing concentrations of IL-6 for 24-72 h. Microscopy, RT-PCR, Real-time PCR, immunoblotting and flow cytometry were used to detect morphological changes, mRNA and protein expression of the EMT markers E-Cadherin, Vimentin and Collagen type I following IL-6 stimulation. The data collected demonstrate that IL-6 can induce SGEC to undergo a morphological and phenotypical transition to a mesenchymal phenotype, in a dose-dependent manner. Decreased mRNA levels of E-Cadherin accompanied by higher mRNA levels of Vimentin and Collagen type I were observed in the IL-6-treated cells compared to control cells (all p < 0.05). This was confirmed at the protein level, demonstrating the decreased E-Cadherin expression, while Vimentin and Collagen type I expression was increased in IL-6-treated SGEC compared to controls (all p < 0.05). The results obtained corroborate the hypothesis that dysregulated cytokines IL-6 may contribute to the EMT-dependent fibrosis, offering a more complete understanding of the role of the EMT during SGs fibrosis in pSS.

Keywords: EMT; IL-6; Salivary gland; Sjögren’s syndrome; TGF-β1.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

  NODES
twitter 2