Expression of IL-27 by tumor cells in invasive cutaneous and metastatic melanomas [corrected]

PLoS One. 2013 Oct 10;8(10):e75694. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0075694. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

Interleukin (IL)-27 is a cytokine of the IL-12 family that displays either immunostimulatory or immunosuppressive functions depending on the context. In various murine tumor models including melanoma models, ectopic expression of IL-27 has been shown to play an anti-tumoral role and to favor tumor regression. In this study, we investigated whether IL-27 might play a role in the development of melanoma in humans. We analyzed the in situ expression of IL-27 in melanocytic lesions (n = 82) representative of different stages of tumor progression. IL-27 expression was not observed in nevus (n = 8) nor in in situ melanoma (n = 9), but was detected in 28/46 (61%) cases of invasive cutaneous melanoma, notably in advanced stages (19/23 cases of stages 3 and 4). In most cases, the main source of IL-27 was tumor cells. Of note, when IL-27 was detected in primary cutaneous melanomas, its expression was maintained in metastatic lesions. These in situ data suggested that the immunosuppressive functions of IL-27 may dominate in human melanoma. Consistent with this hypothesis, we found that IL-27 could induce suppressive molecules such as PD-L1, and to a lesser extent IL-10, in melanoma cells, and that the in situ expression of IL-27 in melanoma correlated with those of PD-L1 and IL-10.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • B7-H1 Antigen / metabolism
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Flow Cytometry
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Interleukin-10 / metabolism
  • Interleukin-27 / metabolism*
  • Interleukin-27 / pharmacology
  • Melanoma / metabolism*
  • Melanoma, Cutaneous Malignant
  • Nevus, Pigmented / metabolism*
  • Skin Neoplasms

Substances

  • B7-H1 Antigen
  • CD274 protein, human
  • Interleukin-27
  • Interleukin-10

Grants and funding

This work was supported by institutional funds from the CNRS and Université Paris Descartes, and by a grant from the Ligue Contre le Cancer (Comité de Paris). JG was supported by a fellowship from the Académie Nationale de Médecine. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.