Fibrosis is the main cause of limited range of motion (ROM) of shoulder in patients with
frozen shoulder (FS). Overexpression of
Interleukin 6 (IL-6) has been correlated with pathogenesis of FS. However, the underlying mechanism remains largely unexplored. In the current study, we focused on isolating synovial fibroblasts of FS and determining the influence of
IL-6 as well as PI3K-Akt signaling pathway on the fibrotic process of synovial fibroblasts in FS by using
RNA Sequencing (
RNA-seq) and other molecular biology techniques. Synovial fibroblasts of FS express more extra cellular matrix (ECM) than that of control.
RNA-seq results and bioinformatic analysis indicate that PI3K-Akt signaling pathway play an important role in the fibrotic process of FS, and
IL-6 is the most related gene among those related to this process. The expression levels of
IL-6 / IL-6R in FS synovial fibroblasts and
IL-6 in culture supernatant were both significantly increased.
siRNA interference with the expression of
IL-6 attenuates the
fibrosis level of FS as well as phosphorylation level of Akt. The findings suggest that synovial fibroblasts are key effector cells of
fibrosis of FS. Activation of PI3K-Akt pathway can promote
fibrosis of synovial fibroblasts in FS.
IL-6 is up-regulated in synovial fibroblasts of FS and promoted the FS
fibrosis through PI3K-Akt signaling pathway.