Abstract
There are many types of leukocytes reside in subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), and among them, natural killer cells (NKs) comprise a major part. We show that the NKs that reside in the SAT (adipose tissue-derived NK cells; ADNKs) of the abdominal region found with phenotypic differences from the NKs circulating in the peripheral blood derived NK cells (PBNKs). In this survey, flow cytometry phenotyping was used to study the differences between the natural cytotoxicity receptor expression on ADNKs and PBNKs of both obese and lean persons. Also, their cytotoxicity and cytokine production patterns were evaluated. The activation experiments on isolated and expanded NKs with IL-2, IL-15, and IL-21 cytokines revealed the main population of the CD56dim within the total ADNKs of obese persons has an under-expression of NKp30 and NKp44 despite the unchanged levels of NKG2D. The data suggest the suppressive condition of the adipose tissue niche on the NKs response against sensitive major histocompatibility complex class I non-expressing neoplastic cells. As the NKs are the first line of the body’s defense vs tumor formation, this change may lead to the development of transformed cells into the tumors.
Highlights
According to the WHO, nowadays there are more than a 1.9 billion overweight people worldwide and of these, over 600 million are obese [1]
In obese and lean persons, CD45+ cells and CD3+ cells comprised a greater percentage of total peripheral blood (PB) mononuclear cells than the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of adipose tissue, while frequencies of CD3+CD56+ cells and CD3−CD56+ (NKs) were same between them, but the natural killer cells (NKs) that reside in the subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) of the abdominal region found with different phenotype from NKs circulating in the PB (Figure 1C)
There is a slight difference between CD56bright and CD56dim NKs belongs to the ADNKS and peripheral blood derived NK cells (PBNKs) between obese and normal weight individuals (p < 0.05; Figure 1D)
Summary
According to the WHO, nowadays there are more than a 1.9 billion overweight people worldwide and of these, over 600 million are obese [1]. This situation elevates the prevalence of certain cancers and immunological disorders. The resulting stress leads to the activation of pro-inflammatory cells in adipose tissue [3]. Some various immune cell subsets, including macrophages, eosinophils, natural killer cells (NKs), NKT cells, and T cells, are important in maintaining adipose tissue homeostasis [4,5,6,7].
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