Interleukin-17F attenuates H2O2-induced cell cycle arrest

• IL-17F prevented H2O2 induced G2/M phase arrest in HCT116 cells.
• IL-17F induced decreased expression level of p27 in HCT116 cells after H2O2 treatment.
• IL-17F induced increased p38 activity in HCT116 cells after H2O2 treatment.

Interleukin IL-17F was expressed in colon epithelial cells and showed multiple functions in colon tumorigenesis. However, the role of IL-17F in colon cancer cell cycle progression remains unclear. In this study, we analyzed the effects of IL-17F on oxidant-induced cell cycle shift in human colon cancer cells. IL-17F overexpressing and wildtype HCT116 cells were challenged with H2O2. Cell cycle distribution analysis showed IL-17F attenuated H2O2-induced G2/M phase arrest by inhibiting S to G2/M transition. We further checked expression levels of two critical cell cycle regulators p21 and p27. The results showed that IL-17F could inhibit H2O2 induced p27 up-regulation. Meanwhile, IL-17F could increase the phosphorylation of p38 after H2O2 treatment. The regulations of p27 level and p38 activity may contribute to the impaired G2/M phase arrest by IL-17F. Taken together, our findings extend IL-17F as an important factor in colon cancer development and provide new insight into the signaling pathway.