Increased IL-1α expression is correlated with bladder cancer malignant progression

INTRODUCTION: To explore the function of interleukin 1α (IL-1α) in bladder cancer (BCa). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to test the protein expression of IL-1α in BCa tissues. The relationship between IL-1α and clinical characteristics was analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier curve method. The gene and protein expression was tested by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-q-PCR) and western blot, respectively. Colony formation and MTT assays were used to detect the potential of proliferation in vitro, and scratch and transwell chamber assays were used to detect the potential of invasion in vitro. Markers of proliferation such as Ki-67 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and markers of invasion such as MMP-2 and MMP-9 were detected by western blot. Xenograft study was used for the in vivo experiment. RESULTS: We found that IL-1α was highly expressed in BCa patients while highly expressed IL-1α was significantly related to short overall survival and progression-free survival in BCa as well. Moreover, knockdown of IL-1α might inhibit the ability of cancer cells to proliferate and invade or migrate both in vitro and in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggested that IL-1α might be a therapy target for BCa malignant progression.