title: Interleukin 21 controls tumour growth and tumour immunosurveillance in colitis-associated tumorigenesis in mice.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Colitis-associated tumorigenesis is a balance between proliferation of tumour cells and tumour immunosurveillance. The role of T-helper-cell-derived cytokines in tumour growth is not fully understood. In this study the authors investigated the influence of interleukin (IL) 21 on intestinal tumorigenesis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Chronic colitis was induced in IL-21(-/-) and littermate control wild-type mice with three cycles of 1.5% dextran sulphate sodium (DSS) over 7 days followed by 7 days of drinking water. Mice received an azoxymethane injection on day 0 of DSS-colitis to induce tumorigenesis. Immunohistochemistry was performed on inflamed and tumour-bearing areas of colons. Cytokine expression of isolated colonic CD4 T cells was determined by ELISA. Cytotoxic capacity of isolated colonic CD8 T cells targeting tumour cells was evaluated by flow cytometry and quantitative cytotoxicity assay. Apoptosis of tumour cells was determined by TUNEL assay of colonic sections.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Increasing expression of IL-21 was observed in chronic colitis, which showed functional importance, since IL-21 deficiency prevented chronic DSS-colitis development. Further, in the absence of IL-21, significantly fewer tumour nodules were detected, despite a similar extent of intestinal inflammation. In wild-type mice, 8.6±1.9 tumour nodules were found compared with 1.0±1.2 in IL-21-deficient mice. In tumour-bearing IL-21-deficient mice, intestinal inflammation was restored and partly dependent on interferon (IFN)-γ, whereas the inflammation in wild-type mice showed high IL-17A concentrations. In these rare tumours in IL-21-deficient mice, tumour cell proliferation (Ki-67) was decreased, while cell apoptosis was increased, compared with wild-type mice. Increased IFNγ expression in tumour-bearing IL-21-deficient mice led to increased tumour immunosurveillance mediated by cytotoxic CD8CD103 T cells targeting E-cadherin(+) colonic tumour cells and therefore limited tumour growth.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results indicate that IL-21 orchestrates colitis-associated tumorigenesis, leading to the hypothesis that high IFNγ and low IL-17A expression reduces tumour cell proliferation and increases tumour immunosurveillance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Dominik
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jauch
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schiechl
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kesselring
authors.forename: Hans Jürgen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Schlitt
authors.forename: Edward K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Geissler
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fichtner-Feigl
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology; D003092:Colitis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology*; D003106:Colon / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology*; D003601:Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic; D016264:Dextran Sulfate / Q000494:pharmacology; D007157:Immunologic Surveillance / Q000502:physiology*; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000502:physiology; D007378:Interleukins / Q000032:analysis / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D015166:Monitoring, Immunologic; D000098546:Interleukin-21
chemical_list: D007378:Interleukins; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D016264:Dextran Sulfate; D000098546:Interleukin-21