Role of IL-13 in regulation of anti-tumor immunity and tumor growth

Major mediators of anti-tumor immunity are CD4(+) T(H)1 cells and CD8(+) cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). In tumor-bearing animals, the T(H)1- and CTL-mediated anti-tumor immunity is down-regulated in multiple ways. Better understanding of negative regulatory pathways of tumor immunity is crucial for the development of anti-tumor vaccines and immunotherapies. Since immune deviation toward T(H)2 suppresses T(H)1 development, it has been thought that induction affecting a T(H)2 immune response is one of the mechanisms that down-regulate effective tumor immune responses. Recent studies using T(H)2-deficient signal transducer and activator (Stat6) KO mice demonstrated that this hypothesis was the case. IL-13 is one of the T(H)2 cytokines that has very similar features to IL-4 through sharing some receptor components and Stat6 signal transduction. It has been thought that IL-13 is not as critical for immune deviation as IL-4 since it cannot directly act on T cells. However, recent studies of IL-13 reveal that this cytokine plays a critical role in many aspects of immune regulation. Studies from our lab and others indicate that IL-13 is central to a novel immunoregulatory pathway in which NKT cells suppress tumor immunosurveillance. Here we will describe biological properties and functions of IL-13, its role in the negative regulation of anti-tumor immunity, and effects of IL-13 on tumor cells themselves.