TY - JOUR T1 - Expression of Interleukin-21 and -23 in Human Esophageal Tumors Produced Antitumor Effects in Nude Mice JF - Anticancer Research JO - Anticancer Res SP - 79 LP - 82 VL - 24 IS - 1 AU - BAOEN SHAN AU - LING YU AU - OSAMU SHIMOZATO AU - QIAOXIA LI AU - MASATOSHI TAGAWA Y1 - 2004/01/01 UR - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/24/1/79.abstract N2 - Interleukin (IL)-21 induces proliferation of activated T and natural killer (NK) cells and enhances the lytic function of NK cells. IL-23, a heterodimer composed of p19 and p40 molecule, can also enhance T cell proliferation and interferon-Á production from activated T cells; however, its effects on NK cells are currently unknown. We therefore examined whether human tumors expressing IL-21 or IL-23 could produce antitumor effects in inoculated nude mice. Esophageal tumor T.Tn cells were retrovirally transduced with the IL-21 gene (T.Tn/IL-21) or the p19-linked p40 genes (T.Tn/IL-23). The proliferation in vitro and the class I expression of the major histocompatibility complexes of these transduced cells were not different from those of parent cells. T.Tn/IL-21 and T.Tn/IL-23 cells developed small tumors in nude mice, but the tumors regressed spontaneously thereafter in contrast to parent tumors. Expressed IL-21 or IL-23 in human esophageal tumors can produce antitumor effects in a T cell-defective condition. ER -