IFN-γ induces ZEB1 expression through STAT1-dependent upregulation of JMJD3 to promote lung adenocarcinoma cell aggressiveness

Active IFN-g signaling is a common feature of tumors responding to PD-1 checkpoint blockade. IFN-g exhibits both anti- and pro-tumor activities. Here, we demonstrated that IFN-g induced ZEB1 expression and promoted epithelial-to-mesenchymal-transition in lung adenocarcinoma cells. ZEB1 was required for IFN-g-promoted EMT, cell migration, and metastasis. We performed a transcriptome analysis using RNA-seq to comprehensively describe the altered epithelial cell phenotype following IFN-g treatment. A549 and HCC827 cells were treated with 100 IU/ml IFN-g for 1h, 8h, and 24h, respectively. total RNA of A549 and HCC827 cells was harvested and analyzed by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq)