Interleukin-8 Dedifferentiates Primary Human Luminal Cells to Multipotent Stem Cells

Abstract

During aging, cellular plasticity and senescence play important roles in tissue regeneration and the pathogenesis of different diseases, including cancer. We have recently shown that senescent breast luminal cells can activate their adjacent stromal fibroblasts. In the present report, we present clear evidence that these senescence-related active fibroblasts can dedifferentiate proliferating primary human luminal cells to multipotent stem cells in an interleukin-8 (IL-8)-dependent manner. This was confirmed using recombinant IL-8, while the truncated protein was not active.