Interleukin-17 promotes the development of ovarian cancer through upregulation of MTA1 expression

Interleukin-17 (IL-17) has been demonstrated to promote the development of cancer cells in most organs. The purpose of this study was to determine if IL-17 promotes the development of ovarian cancer cells via upregulation of metastasis associated 1 (MTA1) expression. Human ovarian cancer cell lines SKOV-3, CAOV-3, and OVCAR-3 were used to test if IL-17 regulates MTA1 mRNA and protein expression. Flow cytometer assays (FCM), Tunel assays, wound healing assays, and transwell assays were used to investigate cell apoptosis, migration, and invasion. Nude mouse ovarian cancer tissues were stained for IL-17 and MTA1 using immunohistochemical staining, RT-PCR, and Western blot, respectively. Twenty human serum and tissues, including 10 cases of ovarian cancer patients and 10 cases of control patients, were tested for IL-17 and MTA1 using the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), RT-PCR, and Western blot analysis. In addition, we found that IL-17 upregulated MTA1 mRNA and protein expression in both vitro and in vivo. ELISA demonstrated the high expression of IL-17 in the serum of ovarian cancer patients. Human ovarian cancer tissues had an increased number of IL-17-positive and MTA1 expressions compared to normal ovarian tissues. These findings demonstrate that IL-17 upregulates MTA1 mRNA and protein expression to promote ovarian cancer migration and invasion. It may be a new target for the treatment of ovarian cancer from the field of biological immunotherapy, but it may also be an important supplement to the study of IL-17 target sites and target pathways.