The therapeutic effect of IL-21 combined with IFN-γ inducing CD4 + CXCR5 + CD57 + T cells differentiation on hepatocellular carcinoma.

Introduction: Liver cancer is a malignant tumor with high incidence and short survival time. In order to increase the cure rate and disease-free survival rate of liver cancer, it is necessary to seek effective treatment methods.
Objectives: The objective of this study is to evaluate the therapeutic effects of IL-21 and IFN-γ inducing the formation of CD4 ⁺ CXCR5 ⁺ CD57 ⁺ T cells on liver cancer.
Methods: The methods of analyze the relationship between CD4 ⁺ CXCR5 ⁺ CD57 ⁺ T cells and the survival time of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and study the effect of IL-21 combined with IFN-γ in inducing stem cells to differentiate into CD4 ⁺ CXCR5 ⁺ CD57 ⁺ T cells. The effects of IL-21 combined with IFN-γ induced CD4 ⁺ CXCR5 ⁺ CD57 ⁺ T cells on liver cancer were studied through animal experiments, and the regulatory mechanism, and the effect of hepatitis B virus (HBV) on it.
Results: The study found that the number of CD4 ⁺ CXCR5 ⁺ CD57 ⁺ T cells in serum of liver cancer patients with prolonged survival time increased significantly, the expression of CD4, CD57, and CXCR5 in the tumor microenvironment increased, and the serum IL-21 and IFN-γ concentrations increased. IL-21 and IFN-γ induce stem cells to differentiate into CD4 ⁺ CXCR5 ⁺ CD57 ⁺ T cells and induce HepG2 cells apoptosis. HBV leads to a decrease in the number of CD4 ⁺ CXCR5 ⁺ CD57 ⁺ T cells and a chronic inflammatory response. Treg cells can regulate CD4 ⁺ CXCR5 ⁺ CD57 ⁺ T cells. IL-21 combined with IFN-γ induced an increase in the number of CD4 ⁺ CXCR5 ⁺ CD57 ⁺ T cells in hepatocarcinoma-bearing mice, which has an inhibitory effect on H22 liver cancer.
Conclusion: The conclusion of the study is that IL-21 combined with IFN-γ induces stem cells to differentiate into CD4 ⁺ CXCR5 ⁺ CD57 ⁺ T cells, Treg can control the increase in their number, and HBV can cause their number to decrease, which can control the growth of liver cancer.
Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Cairo University.)