Modulation of EMT by IL-6 in Ovarian Cancer

Recombinant human IL-6 (Peprotech, Rocky Hill, NJ, USA) was used to evaluate the effect of exogenous IL-6 on the EMT phenotype of A2780 and SKOV3 cells based on a previously established dosing regimen (A2780 cells were cultured in the presence of IL-6 (50 ng/ml) for 24 hours, whereas SKOV3 cells were cultured in the presence of IL-6 (10 ng/ml) for 48 hours). Pharmacological inhibitors of STAT3 (AG490) and HIF-1α (YC-1) were purchased from Cayman Chemical (Ann Arbor, MI, USA). Both A2780 and SKOV-3 cells were treated with YC-1 (10 μM) for 1 hour prior to the addition of exogenous IL-6. Cells were pretreated with AG490 (50 μM) 30 minutes prior to the addition of IL-6.