title: Interleukin (IL)-24 transforms the tumor microenvironment and induces anticancer immunity in a murine model of colon cancer.
abstract: Interleukin-24 (IL-24) is a novel tumor suppressor and can mediate the induction of Th1-type cytokines from peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The individual properties of IL-24 have been previously examined; however, its in vivo immunological consequences and antitumor properties have not been previously evaluated with respect to colon cancer, the most commonly diagnosed cancer in China. Thus, we evaluated whether IL-24 could inhibit the progression of colon cancer in murine models with intact immune competence and explored the mechanisms underlying the immunological effects of IL-24 on colon cancer progression in vivo. In these murine models, we found that IL-24 promoted CD4(+) T cells and CD8(+) T cells to secrete interferon gamma and enhanced the cytotoxicity of CD8(+) T cells in vivo. More importantly, we demonstrated that IL-24 transformed the tumor microenvironment and enhanced antitumor effects in favor of tumor eradication. Additionally, IL-24 expression correlated inversely with the clinical stage of human colorectal cancer. Thus, our study establishes a role of IL-24 in promoting antitumor immune responses and supports the development of a novel cytokine immunotherapy against colon cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an 710061, PR China, PR China.
authors.forename: Yun-Feng
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery, Huai'an First People Hospital, Huai'an, Jiangsu 223300, PR China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an 710061, PR China, PR China.
authors.forename: Cai-Jun
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an 710061, PR China, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Hui
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Shaanxi Blood Center, Xian 710061, PR China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Shaanxi Blood Center, Xian 710061, PR China.
authors.forename: Da-Zhou
authors.initials: DZ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an 710061, PR China, PR China; Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Ministry of Education of China, PR China.
authors.forename: Jiru
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Wuhan University School of Medicine and State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan 430071, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Lian
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an 710061, PR China, PR China; Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Ministry of Education of China, PR China. Electronic address: jiyanhong@mail.xjtu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yanhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ji
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology* / Q000494:pharmacology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D016246:Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment / Q000276:immunology*; D000099180:Interleukin-24
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; C431904:Il24 protein, mouse; D000099180:Interleukin-24
keywords: Cytokine; Immunotherapy; Interleukin-24; T cells; Tumor microenvironment