Interplay between thyroid cancer cells and macrophages: effects on IL-32 mediated cell death and thyroid cancer cell migration

Abstract

Purpose Interleukin 32 (IL-32) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine of which different isoforms have been identified. Recently, IL-32 has been shown to act as a potent inducer of cell migration in several types of cancer. Although previous research showed that IL-32 is expressed in differentiated thyroid cancer (TC) cells, the role of IL-32 in TC cell migration has not been investigated. Furthermore, tumour-associated macrophages (TAMs) may play a facilitating role in cancer cell migration. The aim of this study was to explore whether the interaction between TC cells and TAMs results in increased expression of IL-32 in TC cells and to investigate whether this affects TC cell migration. Methods TPC-1 cells were co-culture with TC-induced or naive macrophages. Next, transcriptome analysis on TPC-1 cells was performed and supernatants were used for stimulation of TPC-1 cells. IL-32β and IL-32γ were exogenously overexpressed in TPC-1 cells using transient transfection, after which an in vitro gap closure assay was performed to assess cell migration, and the expression of migratory factors was assessed using RT-qPCR. Results We found that TC-induced macrophages induced IL-32 expression in TC cells and that TAM-derived TNFα was the main inducer of IL-32β expression in TC cells. Overexpression of IL-32β and IL-32γ did not affect TC cell migration, but increased cell death. Finally, we found that IL-32β overexpression led to increased mRNA expression of the pro-survival cytokine IL-8, while the expression of other migratory factors was not affected. Conclusions From our data, we conclude that TAM-derived TNFα induces IL-32β in TC cells. Although IL-32β does not affect TC cell migration, alternative splicing of IL-32 towards the IL-32β isoform may be beneficial for TC cell survival through induction of the pro-survival cytokine IL-8.

A new ferroptosis-related gene model for prognostic prediction of papillary thyroid carcinoma

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Interleukin‑32 regulates downstream molecules and promotes the invasion of pancreatic cancer cells

“…IL-32 is a cytokine that has been attracting attention in recent years for its association with the development of various tumors (21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26). Previously, we established a highly invasive human pancreatic cancer cell line and investigated comprehensively the factors that enhance its invasiveness (7).…”

Extracellular Vesicles from Human Advanced-Stage Prostate Cancer Cells Modify the Inflammatory Response of Microenvironment-Residing Cells

“…One of the main functions of TAMs is to support oncogenesis and disease progression by promoting tumour-protective adaptive immunity and by influencing tumour growth [4,41]. Several molecules, including IL-10 [42], IL-32 [43], epidermal growth factor [44] and growth arrest-specific gene 6 [45], have been associated to the tumour-promoting function of TAMs. We have demonstrated that PC3-EV-induced TAM-like macrophages are capable of increasing cancer cell proliferation and migration, thus supporting the idea that EVs might exert a tumour-promoting function.…”