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IL-9 Contributes to Immunosuppression Mediated by Regulatory T Cells and Mast Cells in B-Cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

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Abstract

It has been known that regulatory T (Treg) cells and mast cells (MCs) are involved in tumor immunity regulation, but the exact roles and mechanisms of Treg cells and MCs in B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) are incompletely defined. In the present study, we found that the number of Foxp3+ Treg cells and CD117+ MCs increased in B-cell NHL patients. Concomitantly, a high level of interleukin (IL)-9 was observed in the sera from B-cell NHL patients. Neutralizing IL-9 significantly inhibited tumor growth in the lymphoma model of murine, and this process was associated with down-regulation of Treg cells and MCs. Furthermore, IL-9 was also demonstrated to induce expression of MC-related genes and proliferation of MCs from the bone marrow stem cells. Collectively, our results indicate that Treg cell and MCs are involved in immunosuppression in B-cell NHL, and IL-9 is a key mediator of Treg cells and MCs in that process. These findings provide novel insight for the pathogenesis and possible therapeutic strategy of B-cell NHL.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by grants from the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China (No. Y2007C053; ZR2009CM059) and the Scientific & Technological Project of Shandong Province, China (No. 2007GG10002008; 2010GSF10250). We thank the staff of the Department of Hematology, Department of Pathology, and Department of General Surgery in Shandong Provincial Hospital for helping with patients’ identification and tissue collection. We thank the technicians of the Research Center of Shandong Provincial Hospital for their assistance in research conducting.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hematology, Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, No. 324 Jingwu Weiqi Road, Jinan, Shandong, 250021, People’s Republic of China

    Li-Li Feng, Jun-Ming Gao, Pei-Pei Li & Xin Wang

  2. Department of Diagnostics, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, 250012, People’s Republic of China

    Xin Wang

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  1. Li-Li Feng
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  2. Jun-Ming Gao
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Correspondence to Xin Wang.

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Feng, LL., Gao, JM., Li, PP. et al. IL-9 Contributes to Immunosuppression Mediated by Regulatory T Cells and Mast Cells in B-Cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. J Clin Immunol 31, 1084–1094 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10875-011-9584-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10875-011-9584-9

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