Interleukins (ILs) are involved in the occurrence and development of numerous types of
cancer, and serve a critical role in the development of effective
cancer therapeutics. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of
IL-27 on
chemotherapy resistance in
lung cancer cells, and analyze its potential molecular mechanism in
lung cancer tissues. Western blot analysis and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction were performed to examine the
RNA and
protein expression levels of
IL-27. A Cell Counting Kit-8 assay was performed to evaluate the proliferation rates of the
lung cancer line A549. Flow cytometry was subsequently applied to determine the rate of apoptosis in A549 cells. The data obtained revealed that the expression of
IL-27 with
cisplatin, significantly suppressed the proliferation and apoptosis of A549 cells compared with that in the
cisplatin treatment group alone. The expression of Akt and apoptosis factors such as
Caspase-3 and Bcl-2/Bax also ascertained that upregulated
IL-27 inhibited the development of
cancer and increased apoptosis in the A549 cells. Therefore,
IL-27 may represent a potential target for antitumor
therapy, especially when considering the clinical challenges presented by the development of chemoresistance in
tumors. These findings suggest that
IL-27 is a promising
biomarker and represents a novel treatment strategy for patients with
lung cancer.