Shiraz Institute for Cancer Research, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Department of Laboratory Sciences, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
Breast Dis. 2022;41(1):373-382. doi: 10.3233/BD-220013.
Interleukin-21 (IL-21) is produced by various cell types inducing positive and negative effects in immunity against tumors.
To investigate the expression of IL-21 by CD4+T and IL-21 receptor (IL-21R) by B lymphocytes isolated from breast-tumor draining lymph nodes (TDLNs).
Fresh lymph node samples were obtained from 45 patients with breast cancer. To assess IL-21 expression, mononuclear cells were briefly stimulated whereas IL-21R expression was assessed in unstimulated B cells. Cells were stained with antibodies for CD4, IL-21, CD19 and IL-21R and acquired by flow cytometry.
The frequency of IL-21+CD4+T cells did not show significant association with disease parameters. However, the geometric mean fluorescence intensity (gMFI) of IL-21 in CD4+T cells was significantly lower in patients with grade III tumor than grade I + II (P = 0.042). In non-involved LNs, the intensity of IL-21 was significantly higher in patients with stage II compared with stage III (P = 0.038) and correlated negatively with the number of involved LNs. The frequency of IL-21R+CD19+B cells was significantly higher in grade III than grade I + II (P = 0.037).
The higher intensity of IL-21 in CD4+T cells showed association with good prognosticators in breast cancer and warrants further investigation of the role played by IL-21 in immunity against breast cancer.
白细胞介素 21（IL-21）由多种细胞类型产生，对肿瘤免疫具有正负两方面的影响。
研究从乳腺癌引流淋巴结（TDLNs）中分离的 CD4+T 细胞和 B 淋巴细胞产生的 IL-21 及 IL-21 受体（IL-21R）的表达情况。
从 45 例乳腺癌患者中获取新鲜的淋巴结样本。为评估 IL-21 的表达，对单个核细胞进行短暂刺激，而在未刺激的 B 细胞中评估 IL-21R 的表达。用 CD4、IL-21、CD19 和 IL-21R 抗体对细胞进行染色，并用流式细胞术进行检测。
IL-21+CD4+T 细胞的频率与疾病参数之间无显著相关性。然而，III 级肿瘤患者 CD4+T 细胞中 IL-21 的几何平均荧光强度（gMFI）显著低于 I + II 级（P=0.042）。在未受累的淋巴结中，II 期患者的 IL-21 强度明显高于 III 期（P=0.038），且与受累淋巴结的数量呈负相关。III 级患者中 IL-21R+CD19+B 细胞的频率明显高于 I + II 级（P=0.037）。
CD4+T 细胞中 IL-21 强度较高与乳腺癌的良好预后标志物相关，这表明需要进一步研究 IL-21 在乳腺癌免疫中的作用。
