HSPB8 facilitates prostate cancer progression via activating JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway

Prostate Cancer (PC) is a clinically and biologically heterogeneous disease that lacks effective treatment. Heat shock protein B8 (HSPB8) is an important factor in the progression of various types of Cancer. However, the clinical significance and biological role of HSPB8 in PC is still unclear. In this study, we determined HSPB8 expression in PC tissues by immunohistochemical (IHC) staining, explored the in vitro functions of HSPB8 using HSPB8 knockdown DU145 and LNcap PC cell lines. The in vivo effect of HSPB8 was explored by subcutaneous xenograft mice model. The Human Phospho-kinase Array and STAT3 Activator were utilized to explore potential mechanism of HSPB8 induced PC progression. As a result, we found that HSPB8 was abundantly expressed in PC tissues and cell lines. HSPB8 knockdown inhibited cell proliferation and migration, promoted Apoptosis and cycle repression, as well as weaken tumorigenesis ability. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that HSPB8 facilitate the malignant phenotypes of PC by activating the JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway. These results proposed that HSPB8 seems to be an attractive therapeutic target for PC patients.