Clinical Study CD38 Ligation in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Myeloma Patients Induces Release of Protumorigenic IL-6 and Impaired Secretion of IFN

Copyright © 2013 Giorgio Fedele et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. CD38, a surface receptor that controls signals in immunocompetent cells, is densely expressed by cells of multiple myeloma (MM). The immune system of MM patients appears as functionally impaired, with qualitative and quantitative defects in T cell immune responses. This work answers the issue whether CD38 plays a role in the impairment of T lymphocyte response. To this aim, we analyzed the signals implemented by monoclonal antibodies (mAb) ligation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) obtained from MM patients and compared to benign monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). PBMC fromMMboth failed to proliferate and secrete IF