Increased IL-1α expression is correlated with bladder cancer malignant progression

Introduction: To explore the function of interleukin 1 alpha (IL-1 alpha) in bladder cancer (BCa). Material and methods: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to test the protein expression of IL-1 alpha in BCa tissues. The relationship between IL-1 alpha and clinical characteristics was analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier curve method. The gene and protein expression was tested by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-q-PCR) and western blot, respectively. Colony formation and MTT assays were used to detect the potential of proliferation in vitro, and scratch and transwell chamber assays were used to detect the potential of invasion in vitro. Markers of proliferation such as Ki-67 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and markers of invasion such as MMP-2 and MMP-9 were detected by western blot. Xenograft study was used for the in vivo experiment. Results: We found that IL-1 alpha was highly expressed in BCa patients while highly expressed IL-1 alpha was significantly related to short overall survival and progression-free survival in BCa as well. Moreover, knockdown of IL-1 alpha might inhibit the ability of cancer cells to proliferate and invade or migrate both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusions: Our findings suggested that IL-1 alpha might be a therapy target for BCa malignant progression.

Automated summary

Immunohistochemistry analysis revealed high expression of IL-1 alpha in bladder cancer patients, which was associated with poor overall survival and progression-free survival. Knockdown of IL-1 alpha inhibited cancer cell proliferation and invasion. These findings suggest that IL-1 alpha could be a potential therapeutic target for bladder cancer malignant progression.