Activation of the IL-6/JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway in human middle ear cholesteatoma epithelium

International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Pathology

Wei Liu¹ 

关键词: Cholesteatoma;    IL-6;    STAT3;   

DOI  :  

学科分类：生理学与病理学

来源: e-Century Publishing Corporation

【 摘 要 】

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is one of the most important cytokines which has been shown to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of cholesteatoma. In this study, we aimed to investigate the expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (p-STAT3) in middle ear cholesteatoma epithelium in an effort to determine the role of IL-6/JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway in the pathogenesis of cholesteatoma. Immunohistochemistry was used to examine the expression of IL-6 and p-STAT3 in 25 human middle ear cholesteatoma samples and 15 normal external auditory canal (EAC) epithelium specimens. We also analyzed the relation of IL-6 and p-STAT3 expression levels to the degree of bone destruction in cholesteatoma. We found that the expression of IL-6 and p-STAT3 were significantly higher in cholesteatoma epithelium than in normal EAC epithelium (p<0.05). In cholesteatoma epithelium, a significant positive association was observed between IL-6 and p-STAT3 expression (p<0.05). However, no significant relationships were observed between the degree of bone destruction and the levels of IL-6 and p-STAT3 expression (p>0.05). To conclude, our results support the concept that IL-6/JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway is active and may play an important role in the mechanisms of epithelial hyper-proliferation responsible for cholesteatoma.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC