Leonard Warren J, Zeng Rong, Spolski Rosanne
Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bldg. 10, Rm. 7B05, Bethesda, MD 20892-1674, USA.
J Leukoc Biol. 2008 Aug;84(2):348-56. doi: 10.1189/jlb.0308149. Epub 2008 May 8.
Interleukin-21 (IL-21) and its receptor represent the sixth cytokine system whose actions were recognized to require the common cytokine receptor gamma chain. IL-21 is produced by activated CD4+ T cells, natural killer T cells, and follicular T helper cells and has actions on a range of lymphohematopoietic lineages. Among its many effects, IL-21 serves a critical role for immunoglobulin production and terminal B cell differentiation, acts as a T cell comitogen and can drive the expansion of CD8+ T cells, can negatively regulate dendritic cell function and plays an essential role in the differentiation of Th17 cells. Importantly, IL-21 is implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmunity and exhibits potent actions as an antitumor agent. The ability to regulate and manipulate the actions of IL-21, therefore, has important implications for immunoregulation and the therapy of human disease.
白细胞介素-21（IL-21）及其受体代表了第六种细胞因子系统，其作用被认为需要共同的细胞因子受体γ链。IL-21由活化的CD4 + T细胞、自然杀伤T细胞和滤泡辅助性T细胞产生，对一系列淋巴造血谱系有作用。在其众多作用中，IL-21在免疫球蛋白产生和B细胞终末分化中起关键作用，作为T细胞促有丝分裂原，可驱动CD8 + T细胞的扩增，可负向调节树突状细胞功能，并在Th17细胞分化中起重要作用。重要的是，IL-21与自身免疫性疾病的发病机制有关，并作为一种抗肿瘤药物表现出强大的作用。因此，调节和操纵IL-21作用的能力对免疫调节和人类疾病治疗具有重要意义。
