Interleukin‐8 is associated with proliferation, migration, angiogenesis and chemosensitivity in vitro and in vivo in colon cancer cell line models

Interleukin‐8 (IL‐8), a chemokine with a defining CXC amino acid motif, is known to possess tumorigenic and proangiogenic properties. Overexpression of IL‐8 has been detected in many human tumors, including colorectal cancer (CRC), and is associated with poor prognosis. The goal of our study was to determine the role of IL‐8 overexpression in CRC cells in vitro and in vivo. We stably transfected the IL‐8 cDNA into two human colon cancer cell lines, HCT116 and Caco2, and selected IL‐8‐secreting transfectants. Real‐time RT‐PCR confirmed that IL‐8 mRNA was overexpressed in IL‐8 transfectants with 45‐ to 85‐fold higher than parental cells. The IL‐8‐transfected clones secreted 19‐ to 28‐fold more IL‐8 protein than control and parental cells as detected by ELISA. The IL‐8 transfectants demonstrated increased cellular proliferation, cell migration and invasion based on functional assays. Growth inhibition studies showed that IL‐8 overexpression lead to a significant resistance to oxaliplatin (p < 0.0001). Inhibition of IL‐8 overexpression with small interfering RNA reversed the observed increases in tumorigenic functions and oxaliplatin resistance, suggesting that IL‐8 not only provides a proliferative advantage but also promotes the metastatic potential of colon cancer cells. Using a tumor xenograft model, IL‐8‐expressing cells formed significantly larger tumors than the control cells with increased microvessel density. Together, these findings indicate that overexpression of IL‐8 promotes tumor growth, metastasis, chemoresistance and angiogenesis, implying IL‐8 to be an important therapeutic target in CRC.