Role of IL-21 in inflammatory bowel disease

Abstract

IL-21 was first described as a critical regulator of T- and B-cell functions. More recently, it has become apparent that IL-21 controls the activity of both immune and nonimmune cells and, depending on the timing and context analyzed, it can promote either inflammatory or counter-regulatory effects. IL-21 participates in the immune responses against tumor cells and chronic viral infections, but excessive production of IL-21 has been associated with the development of immune-inflammatory diseases in various organs. In this article, we focus on data supporting the pathogenic role of IL-21 in human inflammatory bowel diseases and discuss preclinical studies that suggest that neutralization of IL-21 in vivo could be a new strategy to counteract the inflammatory bowel disease-related, tissue damaging immune response.

Keywords::

• Crohn’s disease
• IBD
• IL-21
• Th1 cells
• Th17 cells
• ulcerative colitis

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Giovanni Monteleone has filed a patent entitled ‘Interleukin-21 (IL-21) Binding Proteins and Methods of Making and Using the Same’ (European Patent Application No. 08425294.9). The authors received support for the work on IL-21 from the Fondazione Umberto di Mario, Rome, the Broad Medical Research Program Foundation (Grant No. IBD-0154R), and Giuliani SpA, Milan, Italy. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.