CONSEQUENCES OF THE TANDEM IL-21 AND IL-15 ON MOUSE NK CELLS IN VITRO

Cytokines are signalling molecules involved in haematopoiesis, innate and adaptive immunity and immnuopathology. Interleukin 21 (IL-21), a member of the common gamma-chain (gamma c) receptor cytokine family, shown an important role in regulating of both innate and adaptive immune responses. In this study, we investigated the action of IL-21, alone and in combination with IL-15, on mouse natural killer cells (NK) proliferation, survival and functional activation of immune cells. Our results shown that IL-21 induced a low proliferation of NK cells and do not show survival benefits in culture cells. The combination between IL-21 and IL-15 induced NK cells proliferation, increased cell survival and functional activation. These results proved that IL-21 may cooperate with IL-15 in modulating NK cell-response, and their combination may have important implications for immunotherapy of cancer.