Impact of Interleukin-6 Activation and Arthritis on Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) Activation in Sensory Neurons and the Spinal Cord.

ABSTRACT: In tumor cells, interleukin-6 (IL-6) signaling can lead to activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which prolongs Stat3 activation. In the present experiments, we tested the hypothesis that IL-6 signaling activates EGFR signaling in peripheral and spinal nociception and examined whether EGFR localization and activation coincide with pain-related behaviors in arthritis. In vivo in anesthetized rats, spinal application of the EGFR receptor blocker gefitinib reduced the responses of spinal cord neurons to noxious joint stimulation, but only after spinal pretreatment with IL-6 and soluble IL-6 receptor. Using Western blots, we found that IL-6-induced Stat3 activation was reduced by gefitinib in microglial cells of the BV2 cell line, but not in cultured DRG neurons. Immunohis

SUBMITTER: Roy A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11241234 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature