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Updated: Jun 11, 2026

Studying TGF-β Signaling and TGF-β-induced Epithelial-to-mesenchymal Transition in Breast Cancer and Normal Cells
Published on: October 27, 2020
TGF-beta1 suppresses IL-6-induced STAT3 activation through regulation of Jak2 expression in prostate epithelial cells
Andrea Starsíchová1, Eva Lincová, Zuzana Pernicová
1Department of Cytokinetics, Institute of Biophysics, Acad Sci Czech Rep, Královopolská 135, CZ-612 65 Brno, Czech Republic.
Abstract:
Chronic inflammation plays an important role in the initiation and progression of various human diseases including benign prostatic hyperplasia or prostate cancer. Here we show that the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) has prosurvival effects and chronically activates the Jak2/STAT3 signalling pathway in a model of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH-1). We demonstrate that the antiinflammatory cytokine transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1), which also permanently activates its canonical signalling pathway through SMAD proteins in BPH-1 cells, modifies the effects of IL-6 on cell proliferation. Importantly, TGF-beta1 inhibits IL-6 signal transduction by decreasing the phosphorylation levels of STAT3. This effect is associated with decreased expression of Jak2 at both mRNA and protein levels. Moreover, we showed that TGF-beta1 inhibits IL-6-induced expression of the cancer-associated gene MUC1. These observations demonstrated a novel interaction between TGF-beta1 and IL-6 signalling and suggested another mechanism of how defects in TGF-beta signalling, frequently associated with prostate pathologies, can contribute to the disruption of tissue homeostasis.
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