Interleukin 8 expression regulates tumorigenicity and metastases in androgen-independent prostate cancer.

Interleukin 8 (IL-8) is mitogenic and chemotactic for endothelial cells. Within a neoplasm, IL-8 is secreted by inflammatory and neoplastic cells. The highly metastatic PC-3M-LN4 cell line overexpresses IL-8 relative to the poorly metastatic PC-3P cell line. We evaluated whether IL-8 expression by human prostate cancer growing within the prostate of athymic nude mice regulates tumor angiogenesis, growth, and metastasis. PC-3P cells were transfected with the full-length sense IL-8 cDNA, whereas PC-3M-LN4 cells were transfected with the full-sequence antisense IL-8 cDNA. Control cells were transfected with the neomycin resistance gene (Neo). In vitro, sense-transfected PC-3P cells overexpressed IL-8-specific mRNA and protein, which resulted in up-regulation of matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) mRNA, and collagenase activity, resulting in increased invasion through Matrigel. After antisense transfection of the PC-3M-LN4 cells, IL-8 and MMP-9 expression, collagenase activity, and invasion were markedly reduced relative to controls. After orthotopic implantation, the sense-transfected PC-3P cells were highly tumorigenic and metastatic, with significantly increased neovascularity and IL-8 expression compared with either PC-3P cells or controls. Antisense transfection significantly reduced the expression of IL-8 and MMP-9 and tumor-induced neovascularity, resulting in inhibition of tumorigenicity and metastasis. These results demonstrate that IL-8 expression regulates angiogenesis in prostate cancer, in part by induction of MMP-9 expression, and subsequently regulates the growth and metastasis of human prostate cancer.