Myeloma cells upregulate interleukin-6 secretion in osteoblastic cells through cell-to-cell contact but downregulate osteocalcin

Previous studies have shown that bone marrow, especially the bone microenvironment, may play an important role in the pathogenesis of multiple myeloma (MM). To elucidate the relationship between myeloma cells and bone cells, mainly osteoblasts, we have established a coculture system between two interleukin-6 (IL-6)-dependent myeloma cell lines, XG1 and XG6, and the osteosarcoma cell lines Saos-2 and MG63. Both osteosarcoma cell lines have retained major functions of normal osteoblasts; principally, the capacity to produce hematopoietic growth factors (including IL-6) and osteocalcin, a noncollagenic protein essential in the bone formation process. Because IL-6 is a critical growth factor in MM, we have examined the IL-6 osteoblastic cell production in our coculture system. XG1 cells strongly upregulate IL-6 production by MG63 and Saos-2 cells. Of major interest, the triggering of IL-6 is totally dependent on the physical contact between myeloma cells and osteoblastic cells, contact that is partly mediated by CD44, CD56, and fibronectin interactions. Osteocalcin production by MG63 and Saos-2 cells has previously been shown to be dependent on 1,25-(OH)2D3. We demonstrate that XG1 and XG6 cells reduced the amount of osteocalcin in MG63 coculture cell supernatants, a reduction that is partly mediated by a soluble factor and by cell-to-cell contact. Notably, whereas one of the myeloma cell lines, XG6, has lost its capacity to stimulate IL-6 production by osteoblastic cell lines, both XG1 and XG6 cell lines remain able to reduce the osteocalcin amount, indicating that IL-6 and osteocalcin levels are regulated by two different pathways. In conclusion, these data strongly support the concept that the bone microenvironment is directly modified by contact with myeloma cells and are consistent with the characteristics observed in vivo in patients with MM patients, ie, abnormally high IL-6 and low osteocalcin levels, respectively.