IL-8 Induces Epithelial-to-mesenchymal Transition of Ovarian Carcinoma Cells: a Preliminary Study

Objective To explore the effect of IL-8 on the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in ovarian cancer, which will provide experimental basis for revealing related molecular mechanism in malignant metastasis of ovarian cancer. Methods The migration of ovarian cancer cell line SKOV3 cells was explored with Real time label free cell analysis (RTCA) after treatment with recombinant human IL-8.SKOV3 cells were co-cultured with IL-8 for 48 h, proteins involved in EMT were investigated via Western blot to explore the effect of IL-8 on the activation of the EMT. Invasion of SKOV3 cells after treatment with IL-8 were evaluated by transwell assay. Results According to the results of RTCA, after treatment with IL-8 for 48 h, the migration of SKOV3 cells was in platform phase. The treatment of IL-8 unregulated vimentin and snail and downregulated E-cadherin, which suggested that IL-8 induced EMT in ovarian cancer. The results of transwell test showed that invasive ability of IL-8 pretreated SKOV3 cells was enhanced (P<0.05). Conclusion IL-8 can induce the EMT of ovarian cancer and enhance the invasion and migration of ovarian cancer.