Interleukin-1 (IL-1)-induced IL-6- and IL-6-receptor-mediated release of human chorionic gonadotropin by choriocarcinoma cell lines (Jar and HCCM-5) activates adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate-independent signal transduction pathway.

Abstract

The status of preservation of the ability to secrete cytokines, such as interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha), and IL-6, and the cytokine-mediated regulatory cascade was investigated in four choriocarcinoma cell lines. Each cell line constitutively produced IL-6, but not IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, or TNF alpha. Jar and HCCM-5 cells responded to IL-6, releasing hCG by direct activation of IL-6 receptors (IL-6-R) with IL-6. Both cell lines also responded to IL-1, but failed to responded to TNF alpha. When stimulated with recombinant IL-1 alpha, both cell lines released IL-6 and activated the IL-6-R system to release hCG, whereas stimulation with TNF alpha failed to release hCG. The experiments showed that both the Jar and HCCM-5 cell lines possessed a partially intact cytokine-mediated cascade, suggesting that IL-1-induced IL-6 release and IL-6-R activation operate in an autocrine manner. In contrast, NUC-1 and SCH cells failed to respond to IL-6, IL-1, or TNF alpha. Although 8-bromo-cAMP, which is a cAMP analog, stimulates hCG release by Jar cells, it failed to stimulate IL-6 release. Moreover, cAMP-mediated hCG release was not blocked by PM1, an anti-IL-6-R antibody. This suggests that elevation of the cytoplasmic cAMP level might activate a pathway different from the IL-6- and IL-6-R-dependent pathway. Moreover, IL-1- and IL-6-mediated hCG release was not blocked by H8, a cAMP-dependent kinase inhibitor, which further suggests that the IL-1- and IL-6-mediated pathway functions independently of the cAMP-dependent pathway in releasing hCG in Jar cells.