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Updated: Aug 22, 2026
An Orthotopic Murine Model of Human Prostate Cancer Metastasis
Published on: September 18, 2013
Inhibitory effect of IL-6-induced neuroendocrine cells on prostate cancer cell proliferation
Qingcai Wang1, Dimitris Horiatis, Jacek Pinski
1Division of Medical Oncology, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90033, USA.
Background:
The role of increased neuroendocrine (NE) differentiation in prostate cancer (PCA) is not well understood. Long-term exposure of the prostate cancer cell line LNCaP to high concentrations of the cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) results in permanent transdifferentiation of these cells into a NE phenotype. In this study, we evaluated the effect of IL-6-induced NE cells on the growth of the PCA cell lines LNCaP, PC-3, and DU-145 in vitro.
Results:
Co-culture of NE cells with PCA cells significantly inhibited DNA synthesis in all three PCA cell lines by 30-90% compared to controls. NE cell co-culture resulted in an increased percentage of PCA cells arrested in the S-phase of cell cycle and PCA cell apoptosis.
Conclusions:
Our results imply that NE cells suppress the proliferation of surrounding PCA cells by release of inhibitory factors.
