Regulation of TLR4-induced IL-6 response in bladder cancer cells by opposing actions of MAPK and PI3K signaling.

Purpose Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) was found to be aberrantly expressed in bladder cancer, inducing some genes expression and facilitating tumor progression. Recent data suggest that tumor associated Interleukin-6 (IL-6) correlates with tumor size and grade in bladder cancer. However, the molecule mechanisms of the induction of IL-6 response in bladder cancer cells are not well elucidated. In this study, we manage to find out whether TLR4 signaling is involved in the production of IL-6 by human bladder cancer cells, and the detailed molecule mechanisms by which IL-6 is up-regulated.