Holmdahl Rikard
Medical Inflammation Research, BMC I11, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Eur J Immunol. 2008 Jul;38(7):1800-2. doi: 10.1002/eji.200838529.
Previous data have indicated that IL-21 and/or IL-21R are crucial for the differentiation of naïve T cells into Th17 cells and also play a key role in the development of autoimmune disease. Given this, IL-21 and/or IL-21R are potential targets for therapy of such diseases; however, a study in this issue of the European Journal of Immunology, provides a new twist in the story as it is now shown that IL-21 and/or IL-21R play no role in Th17 development or autoimmune inflammatory disease. The reasons for these contradictory data are discussed in this Commentary.
先前的数据表明，白细胞介素-21（IL-21）和/或IL-21受体（IL-21R）对于初始T细胞分化为辅助性T细胞17（Th17）至关重要，并且在自身免疫性疾病的发展中也起关键作用。鉴于此，IL-21和/或IL-21R是此类疾病治疗的潜在靶点；然而，本期《欧洲免疫学杂志》中的一项研究却给这个故事带来了新的转折，因为现在表明IL-21和/或IL-21R在Th17细胞发育或自身免疫性炎症疾病中不起作用。本述评讨论了这些相互矛盾数据的原因。
