[The antitumor effect and immuno-mechanism of IL-23 in mouse mammary cancer].

AIM: To study the antitumor effect of IL-23 in mouse mammary cancer and the change of its immune function. METHODS: IL-23/MA-891, LXSN/MA-891 and the parental MA-891 cells were inoculated in the subcutaneous tissues of mice, respectively. The mouse models were used to observe the tumorigenic activity of IL-23/MA-891 cells. On the thirtieth day, the spleens and tumors of the mice in three groups were extracted and then IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, IL-12 and IL-4 were detected by ELISA. The expression of MHC-I, MHC-II, CD80 and CD86 in tumor cells, the ratio of positive cells of CD11c, and the selection of CD4 and CD8 in the spleens were detected by flow cytometry, respectively. CD4 and CD8 in three groups were immuno-stained and then they were examined by microscope. RESULTS: The tumor in the mouse inoculated with IL-23/MA891 cells developed much more slowly than that in the other two groups. Meanwhile, the spleen cells of this group secreted higher IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha and IL-12 than the other two groups (P<0.01), but the secretion of IL-4 in the three groups had no difference (P>0.05). In IL-23/MA891 group, CD4+, CD8+ lymphocytes, CD11c+ cells in spleens and infiltration of CD4+, CD8+ lymphocytes in tumor tissues were also markedly higher than those in LXSN/MA-891 and MA-891 groups (P<0.01). The expression of MHC-I, MHC-II, CD80 and CD86 in IL-23/MA-891 groups was also higher than that in the other two groups (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: In the mice the antitumor effect of the mammary cancer cells transferred by IL-23 gene is obvious, which can enhance the cellular immune function and play an important role in inhibiting the growth of tumor.