Fig. 3

Autocrine IL-6 activates STAT3 signalling in lung cancer cell-induced epidural ADSCs. a Epidural ADSCs were pre-treated with CM from lung cancer cells for 48 h, and pSTAT3 and STAT3 expression levels were detected by western blotting. Epidural ADSCs cultured in untreated medium served as a control. b The effects of lung cancer cell CM on epidural ADSC proliferation were evaluated using the CCK-8 assay. Epidural ADSCs were treated with CM from one of four lung cancer cell lines, and the optical density of both groups at 450 nm was analysed. Data from three separate experiments are shown. c Western blot analysis of pSTAT3 and STAT3 in epidural ADSCs treated with either 10 ng/mL recombinant IL-6, 10 ng/mL recombinant IL-11 or 50 ng/mL recombinant LIF in the presence or absence of either neutralizing antibodies or isotype controls. Loading control, actin. d Western blot analysis of pSTAT3 and α-SMA expression in epidural ADSCs treated with lung cancer cell CM in the presence or absence of neutralizing antibodies against IL-6, IL-11 or LIF. Loading control, actin. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001