AhR- and NF-κB-dependent induction of interleukin-6 by co-exposure to the environmental contaminant benzanthracene and the cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α in human mammary MCF-7 cells.

Co-exposure to environmental polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and interleukin (IL)-1β induces expression of the tumor-promoting cytokine IL-6 in cancer cells. The present study was designed to determine whether such an IL-6 up-regulation also occurs in response to co-treatment by PAHs and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, an inflammatory cytokine commonly found in tumor microenvironment. Co-exposure to the prototypical PAH benzanthracene (BZA) and TNF-α was found to markedly induce mRNA expression and secretion of IL-6 in human breast cancer cells MCF-7, whereas exposure to either BZA or TNF-α alone was without significant effect. Co-treatment by BZA and TNF-α-containing conditioned media from human inflammatory macrophages similarly up-regulated IL-6 expression in MCF-7 cells. BZA/TNF-α-mediated IL-6 induction in MCF-7 cells was counteracted by silencing aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), known to mediates most of PAH effects. IL-6 up-regulation was moreover associated with NF-κB activation and was abolished by using chemical NF-κB inhibitors or knocking-down expression of the p65/RelA NF-κB subunit. Taken together, these data indicate that co-exposure to BZA/TNF-α induces IL-6 expression by AhR- and NF-κB-dependent pathways in MCF-7 cancer cells. This regulation of IL-6 by environmental PAHs, that is dependent of inflammatory cytokine microenvironment, may contribute to the well-known carcinogenic properties of these organic pollutants.