Signal pathways involved in activation of p70S6K and phosphorylation of 4E-BP1 following exposure of multiple myeloma tumor cells to interleukin-6.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a prominent tumor growth factor for malignant multiple myeloma cells. In addition to its known activation of the Janus tyrosine kinase-STAT and RAS-MEK-ERK pathways, recent work suggests that IL-6 can also activate the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K)/AKT kinase pathway in myeloma cells. Because activation of the PI3-K/AKT as well as RAS-MEK-ERK pathways may result in downstream stimulation of the p70(S6K) (p70) and phosphorylation of the 4E-BP1 translational repressor, we assessed these potential molecular targets in IL-6-treated myeloma cells. IL-6 rapidly activated p70 kinase activity and p70 phosphorylation. Activation was inhibited by wortmannin, rapamycin, and the ERK inhibitors PD98059 and UO126, as well as by a dominant negative mutant of AKT. The concurrent requirements for both ERK and PI3-K/AKT appeared to be a result of their ability to phosphorylate p70 on different residues. In contrast, IL-6-induced phosphorylation of 4E-BP1 was inhibited by rapamycin, wortmannin, and dominant negative AKT but ERK inhibitors had no effect, indicating ERK function was dispensable. In keeping with these data, a dominant active AKT mutant was sufficient to induce 4E-BP1 phosphorylation but could not by itself activate p70 kinase activity. Prevention of IL-6-induced p70 activation and 4E-BP1 phosphorylation by the mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors rapamycin and CCI-779 resulted in inhibition of IL-6-induced myeloma cell growth. These results indicate that both ERK and PI3-K/AKT pathways are required for optimal IL-6-induced p70 activity, but PI3-K/AKT is sufficient for 4E-BP1 phosphorylation. Both effects are mediated via mammalian target of rapamycin function, and, furthermore, these effects are critical for IL-6-induced tumor cell growth.