Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 31, 2025

Analysis of Human T Cell Activity in an Allogeneic Co-Culture Setting of Pre-Treated Tumor Cells
Published on: March 7, 2025
Effect of IL-6 on proliferation of human thyroid anaplastic cancer stem cells
Rendong Zheng1,2, Guofang Chen1,2, Xingjia Li1,2
1Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, The Third Clinical College, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine Nanjing, China.
Objective:
To investigate the effect of IL-6 on the proliferation of thyroid cancer stem cells.
Methods:
HTh74 and HTh74R thyroid cancer stem cells were cultured. The proliferation of thyroid cancer stem cells after IL-6 treatment was assessed by the MTT method. The effect of IL-6 on colony formation was observed by colony formation experiments. The expression of OCT4, ABCG2, CD133, and EMT markers was detected by real-time quantitative PCR.
Results:
IL-6 promoted the proliferation of HTh74 and HTh74R thyroid cancer stem cells and enhanced sphere formation. However, anti-IL-6 inhibited the proliferation of cancer stem cells. IL-6 promoted colony formation by HTh74 and HTh74R cells and enhanced the expression of stem cell genes OCT4 and ABCG2. The expression of EMT markers E-cadherin was significantly decreased but the expression of vimentin and Snail was increased by IL-6 treatment.
Conclusions:
IL-6 promoted proliferation of thyroid cancer stem cells and colony formation, and increased characteristics of thyroid cancer stem cells and EMT. The proliferative effect of thyroid cancer stem cells depends on activation of the IL6/JAK1/STAT3 pathway. These effects may contribute to the development and metastasis of thyroid cancer.
Related Concept Videos
Cancer Stem Cells and Tumor Maintenance
Cancer stem cells are thought to originate from tissue-specific normal stem cells or progenitor cells. The normal stem cells usually reside in...
Regulation of Hematopoietic Stem Cells
Stem Cell Therapy for Tissue Regeneration
Types of Stem Cells used in Stem Cell Therapy
The two main cell...
Synthesis and Regulation of Thyroid Hormones
Upon reaching the thyroid gland, TSH stimulates the follicular cells' active uptake of iodide ions from the blood. The ions diffuse to the apical surface of the cells and are oxidized to iodine. The...

