Overexpression of chemokine ligand 7 is associated with the progression of canine transmissible venereal tumor

Background: Chemokines play multiple roles in the development and progression in a variety of tumors. Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 7 (CXCL7) has been found associated with pro-inflammatory responses, but its role in cancer growth remains unclear. Our previous study showed that R phase tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) produced large amounts of interleukin (IL)-6 which antagonized transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta derived from CTVT to diminish the immune-suppressive microenvironment. Now we intend to determine the expression pattern of CXCL7 and the role of IL-6/TGF-beta in CXCL7 induction during spontaneous progressive (P) and regressive (R) phases in canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT). Results: We have demonstrated that CXCL7 expressed at high level in P phase and down-regulated in R phase by western blot and real-time PCR. This suggested that CXCL7 expression was negatively correlated with the tumor growth. Co-culturing TILs with CTVT cells was found to reduce CXCL7 expression, while adding IL-6 blocking antibody reversed it. Moreover, in P phase CTVT, while IL-1 beta and TGF-beta had no obvious effect on CXCL7 expression, IL-6 was found significantly to reduce CXCL7 expression in a dose-dependent manner. The mRNA expression results of CXCL7 receptor, CXCR2, further confirmed the effects of IL-6 concentration on the CXCL7 expression. Conclusion: CXCL7 overexpression might be associated with the progressive growth of CTVT. The results shown here also suggest the role of CXCL7 in cancer development and the potential as the anti-cancer therapeutic target.