Natural killing of MHC class I(-) lymphoblasts by NK cells from long-term bone marrow culture requires effector cell expression of Ly49 receptors.

Abstract

NK cells from long-term bone marrow culture (LTBMC) were compared with IL-2-activated splenic NK cells [short-term spleen cell culture (STSC)] with regard to expression of inhibitory Ly49 receptors and cytotoxic function. In the LTBMC, the total number of NK cells expressing either one of the Ly49 molecules A, C/I and G2 was strongly reduced (10-15% of NK1.1(+) cells) compared to the STSC (80-90% of NK1.1(+) cells). With regard to cytotoxic function, we confirmed that LTBMC-derived NK cells efficiently killed the prototype NK target YAC-1. However, against other targets, killing was more variable. First, while STSC-derived NK cells clearly distinguished MHC class I(-) from MHC class I(+) tumor cell targets, LTBMC-derived NK cells did not; they either killed both targets equally well or not at all. Secondly, LTBMC-derived NK cells were largely incapable of killing lymphoblast targets deficient in MHC class I expression. To test whether this cytotoxic defect was due to the low number of Ly49(+) NK cells in the LTBMC, we separated Ly49(+) and Ly49(-) NK cells by cell sorting and tested them individually. This experiment showed that only Ly49(+) NK cells in the LTBMC were able to kill MHC class I(-) lymphoblasts (and to distinguish them from MHC class I(+)), despite good cytotoxicity against YAC-1 cells in both populations. These data suggest that certain modes of NK cell triggering are dependent on Ly49 receptor expression. From our results, we speculate that inhibitory receptors are expressed before triggering receptors for normal self cells during NK cell development, which may be an important mechanism to preserve self tolerance during the early stages of NK cell maturation.