Date Published:

Sep 15

Abstract:

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) typically develops on a background of chronic hepatitis for which the proinflammatory cytokine IL6 is conventionally considered a crucial driving factor. Paradoxically, IL6 also acts as a hepatoprotective factor in chronic liver injury. Here we used the multidrug-resistant gene 2 knockout (Mdr2(-/-)) mouse model to elucidate potential roles of IL6 in chronic hepatitis-associated liver cancer. Long-term analysis of three separate IL6/Stat3 signaling-deficient Mdr2(-/-) strains revealed aggravated liver injury with increased dysplastic nodule formation and significantly accelerated tumorigenesis in all strains. Tumorigenesis in the IL6/Stat3-perturbed models was strongly associated with enhanced macrophage accumulation and hepatosteatosis, phenotypes of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), as well as with significant reductions in senescence and the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) accompanied by increased hepatocyte proliferation. These findings reveal a crucial suppressive role for IL6/Stat3 signaling in chronic hepatitis-associated hepatocarcinogenesis by impeding protumorigenic NASH-associated phenotypes and by reinforcing the antitumorigenic effects of the SASP. SIGNIFICANCE: These findings describe a context-dependent role of IL6 signaling in hepatocarcinogenesis and predict that increased IL6-neutralizing sgp130 levels in some patients with NASH may herald early HCC development.See related commentary by Huynh and Ernst, p. 4671.

Notes:

1538-7445Shriki, AnatLanton, TaliSonnenblick, AmirOrcid: 0000-0003-1954-4633Levkovitch-Siany, OrrEidelshtein, DanaAbramovitch, RinatRosenberg, NofarPappo, OritElgavish, SharonaNevo, YuvalSafadi, RifaatPeled, AmnonRose-John, StefanGalun, EithanAxelrod, Jonathan HJournal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tUnited StatesCancer Res. 2021 Sep 15;81(18):4766-4777. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-21-0321. Epub 2021 Jun 11.

PubMed