Friend or Foe: The Role of IL-40 in Prostate Cancer
Description
Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common cancer in males in the US. Despite the fact that new treatments and diagnostic tools for PCa are emerging, about 35,000 people lose their lives from PCa each year. IL-40 is a relatively newly identified cytokine with emerging roles in immune regulation. Activation of PD-1/PDL-1 protects cancer cells from immune survaillence and favors cancer survival. This study is designed to investigate if IL-40 has any role in the growth and modulation of PD-1 and PDL-1 in PCa.
Methods: LNCaP, a widely used PCa cell line was treated with IL-40 or medium alone. Clonogenic Survival Assay and Quick Proliferation Assay were used to study the role of IL-40 in growth of PCa cells. RT-PCR and IHC were conducted to determine whether IL-40 regulated the costimulatory molecule PD1 and PDL1
Results: IL-40 significantly decreased the colony numbers of PCa cells and this is further echoed by the decrease in the OD value of cancer cells. RT-PCR showed that PDL-1 expression level was much lower in cells treated with IL-40 when compared to that treated with medium alone.
Conclusion: IL-40 inhibited growth of PCa and downregulated PD-L1. This study warrants further intensive study of IL-40 for its therapeutic role PCa and other cancers.
Citation Information
Han, Daniel M. and Fang, Yujiang, "Friend or Foe: The Role of IL-40 in Prostate Cancer" (2026). Office of Research DMU Research Symposium. 59.
https://digitalcommons.dmu.edu/researchsymposium/2025rs/2025abstracts/59
Friend or Foe: The Role of IL-40 in Prostate Cancer
Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common cancer in males in the US. Despite the fact that new treatments and diagnostic tools for PCa are emerging, about 35,000 people lose their lives from PCa each year. IL-40 is a relatively newly identified cytokine with emerging roles in immune regulation. Activation of PD-1/PDL-1 protects cancer cells from immune survaillence and favors cancer survival. This study is designed to investigate if IL-40 has any role in the growth and modulation of PD-1 and PDL-1 in PCa.
Methods: LNCaP, a widely used PCa cell line was treated with IL-40 or medium alone. Clonogenic Survival Assay and Quick Proliferation Assay were used to study the role of IL-40 in growth of PCa cells. RT-PCR and IHC were conducted to determine whether IL-40 regulated the costimulatory molecule PD1 and PDL1
Results: IL-40 significantly decreased the colony numbers of PCa cells and this is further echoed by the decrease in the OD value of cancer cells. RT-PCR showed that PDL-1 expression level was much lower in cells treated with IL-40 when compared to that treated with medium alone.
Conclusion: IL-40 inhibited growth of PCa and downregulated PD-L1. This study warrants further intensive study of IL-40 for its therapeutic role PCa and other cancers.
