Expression Of NKp46 Research Articles

Abstract P190: Social Isolation Associates With The Expression Of NKp46 On Natural Killer Cells Through A Relationship Partially Mediated By RANTES In African-American Women

Chronic exposure to psychosocial and environmental stressors (PSES) has been shown to increase risk for diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease and alter immune cell distribution and function. In Natural Killer (NK) cells, the impact of PSES has been demonstrated by a loss of NK cell numbers or function and a shift in NK cell subpopulations. NKp46 is an activating receptor on NK cells crucial for NK cell function. In this study, we aimed to determine if PSES is associated with NKp46 expression. We recruited 27 African-American women (age 59.85±1.91; BMI 34.06±1.67), characterized NKp46 expression from blood samples using flow cytometry, and determined serum cytokine levels using Luminex. Furthermore, study participants answered questionnaires to determine various psychosocial measures, socioeconomic status (SES), and home address for neighborhood deprivation (NDI). First, we determined that social isolation significantly associated with NKp46 expression (β=-0.51, p=0.02), while NDI and SES did not. Second, we identified biomarkers associated with social isolation. Social isolation significantly associated with the cytokine RANTES (β=0.64, p=0.01) after adjustment for cardiovascular risk and BMI. Third, we determined that RANTES also associated with NKp46 expression after adjustment (β=-0.54, p=0.01). We performed a mediation analysis using structural equation modeling to determine if RANTES could be a potential biological mediator between social isolation and NKp46 expression levels; this revealed that RANTES mediates 51.07% of the association (Figure). Thus, our study highlights the importance of further understanding the impact of PSES on immune cells and inflammation. Work to unravel the biology of adversity is crucial to address health disparities. In the future, larger studies should be conducted to identify underlying signaling molecules and pathways altering NK cells during chronic PSES that accelerate disease development and progression and ultimately, serve as targets for intervention.

HLA-DR-Positive NK Cells Expand in Response to MycobacteriumTuberculosis Antigens and Mediate Mycobacteria-Induced T Cell Activation.

NK cells play an important role in the control of tuberculosis infection: they are not only able to kill the infected cells, but also control the activity of macrophages and development of the adaptive immune response. Still, there is little information on the role of specific NK cell subsets in this network. In this study, we focused on the mycobacteria-driven responses of the NK cells expressing HLA-DR – a type of MHC class II. We have revealed that this subset is increased in the peripheral blood of patients with primary diagnosed tuberculosis, and expands in response to in vitro stimulation with ultrasonically destroyed Mycobacterium tuberculosis cells (sonicate). The expanded HLA-DR+ NK cells had less differentiated phenotype, higher proliferative activity and increased expression of NKp30 and NKp46 receptors. HLA-DR+CD56dim NK cells showed higher IFNγ production and degranulation level than the respective HLA-DR− NK cells in response to both 24 h and 7 day stimulation with sonicate, while HLA-DR+CD56bright NK cells mostly demonstarted similar high responsiveness to the same stimulating conditions as their HLA-DR−CD56bright counterparts. After preliminary incubation with destroyed mycobacteria, cytokine-activated HLA-DR-expressing NK cells were able to mediate mycobacteria-induced and HLA-DR-dependent cytokine production in autologous CD4+ T cells. Thus, functionally active HLA-DR+ cells seem to be one of the NK cell subsets providing an important link to the adaptive immunity.

Co-expression of NKp46 with activating or inhibitory receptors on, and cytokine production by, uterine endometrial NK cells in recurrent pregnancy loss

NKp46 (CD335) is one of the activating receptors expressed on NK cells and its expression is decreased in patients with reproductive failure. However, the reasons remain unknown. In this study, we aimed to clarify the significance of decreased NKp46 expression in reproductive failure. Uterine endometrial samples collected from 39 patients with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) were assigned to high- or low-risk groups based on an 18 % ratio of CD16+/CD56dim NK cells in uterine endometrial NK (uNK) cells. We analyzed the expression of NKp46 and other activating or inhibitory receptors on, and intracellular cytokine production by NK cells using multicolor flow cytometry. The numbers of NKp46+/CD16− NK, NKp46+/NKG2C− NK, IL-4+/CD56+ NK, and IL-10+/CD56+ NK cells were significantly decreased, whereas that TNF-α+/CD56+ NK cells was significantly increased in the high-risk group, when compared with the low-risk group (P < 0.05 for all). The ratios of TNF-α/IL-4, IFN-γ/IL4, TNF-α/IL-10, and IFN-γ/IL10 cytokine production in uNK cells were significantly increased in the high-risk when compared with the low-risk group (P < 0.05, for all). It is suggested that low expression of activating receptors on NKp46 uNK cells is more prevalent in high-risk women.

Functional NK surrogate biomarkers for inflammatory recurrent pregnancy loss and recurrent implantation failure.

Expansion of circulating NK cells has been related to pregnancy complications. This study aims at investigating several surface NK cell markers to identify a baseline inflammatory profile in women with recurrent pregnancy loss (iRPL) and recurrent implantation failure (iRIF). Expression of NKp30, TIGIT, NKp46, and DNAM-1 on total peripheral blood NK subsets, regulatory (CD56bright CD16neg ), and cytotoxic (CD56dim CD16pos/neg ) NK cells was measured. Eighty-three women were recruited and classified into two groups, 58 women with RPL and 25 with RIF. A control group of 31 fertile women was included. Expression of NKp30 on cytNK was significantly higher in RPL (p=.019) and RIF (p<.001) than HC. TIGIT on cytNK cells was also higher in both RPL (p<.001) and RIF (p<.01). An optimal cutoff of 70% for NKp30+ cytNK disclosed a sensitivity of 82%, a specificity of 55%, and 83% PPV for RPL diagnosis. A cutoff level of 83% for TIGIT+ cytNK was chosen to discriminate between healthy controls and RPL women, with PPV of 84%. Our preliminary data on this RPL and RIF cohorts suggest a simple diagnostic tool by combining NKp30 and TIGIT on cytNK cells to better identify a subgroup of RPL and RIF patients with a baseline inflammatory profile. A more rigorous selection of these patients through phenotyping peripheral cytNK cells may better define patients that could benefit from an immunomodulatory treatment to prevent further pregnancy losses. The performance of these biomarkers requires further investigation and validation in independent cohorts.

Intratumor Regulatory Noncytotoxic NK Cells in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Previous studies support the role of natural killer (NK) cells in controlling hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression. However, ambiguity remains about the multiplicity and the role of different NK cell subsets, as a pro-oncogenic function has been suggested. We performed phenotypic and functional characterization of NK cells infiltrating HCC, with the corresponding nontumorous tissue and liver from patients undergoing liver resection for colorectal liver metastasis used as controls. We identified a reduced number of NK cells in tumors with higher frequency of CD56BRIGHTCD16− NK cells associated with higher expression of NKG2A, NKp44, and NKp30 and downregulation of NKG2D. Liver-resident (CXCR6+) NK cells were reduced in the tumors where T-bethiEomeslo expression was predominant. HCCs showed higher expression of CD49a with particular enrichment in CD49a+Eomes+ NK cells, a subset typically represented in the decidua and playing a proangiogenic function. Functional analysis showed reduced TNF-α production along with impaired cytotoxic capacity that was inversely related to CXCR6−, T-bethiEomeslo, and CD49a+Eomes+ NK cells. In conclusion, we identified a subset of NK cells infiltrating HCC, including non-liver-resident cells that coexpressed CD49a and Eomes and showed reduced cytotoxic potential. This NK cell subset likely plays a regulatory role in proangiogenic function.

Peripheral natural killer cells in chronic hepatitis B patients display multiple molecular features of T cell exhaustion.

Antiviral effectors such as natural killer (NK) cells have impaired functions in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. The molecular mechanism responsible for this dysfunction remains poorly characterised. We show that decreased cytokine production capacity of peripheral NK cells from CHB patients was associated with reduced expression of NKp30 and CD16, and defective mTOR pathway activity. Transcriptome analysis of patients NK cells revealed an enrichment for transcripts expressed in exhausted T cells suggesting that NK cell dysfunction and T cell exhaustion employ common mechanisms. In particular, the transcription factor TOX and several of its targets were over-expressed in NK cells of CHB patients. This signature was predicted to be dependent on the calcium-associated transcription factor NFAT. Stimulation of the calcium-dependent pathway recapitulated features of NK cells from CHB patients. Thus, deregulated calcium signalling could be a central event in both T cell exhaustion and NK cell dysfunction occurring during chronic infections.

Wilms' Tumor Primary Cells Display Potent Immunoregulatory Properties on NK Cells and Macrophages.

Simple SummaryWilms’ tumor (WT) is the most common childhood renal tumor accounting for approximately 7% of childhood malignancies. The overall survival rate for patients with favorable histology is greater than 90% while the survival rate for patients with poor prognostic factors is around 50%. The current treatments consist in a combination of surgery and chemotherapy or radiotherapy in high risk patients. Such treatments are responsible for significant adverse effects requiring long-term monitoring. Thus, a main challenge in WT treatment is the development of novel therapeutic strategies to eliminate or minimize the adverse effects. The characterization of an immune environment could allow the identification of new therapeutic targets. Herein we studied the interaction between WT and innate immune cells, in particular NK cells and monocytes. Although WT are highly susceptible to NK-mediated lysis, the detection of immunoregulatory activity of WT tumor cells on NK cells and also on monocytes could offer novel cellular and molecular targets for an efficacious immunotherapy of WT.The immune response plays a crucial defensive role in cancer growth and metastasis and is a promising target in different tumors. The role of the immune system in Wilm’s Tumor (WT), a common pediatric renal malignancy, is still to be explored. The characterization of the immune environment in WT could allow the identification of new therapeutic strategies for targeting possible inhibitory mechanisms and/or lowering toxicity of the current treatments. In this study, we stabilized four WT primary cultures expressing either a blastematous (CD56+/CD133−) or an epithelial (CD56−/CD133+) phenotype and investigated their interactions with innate immune cells, namely NK cells and monocytes. We show that cytokine-activated NK cells efficiently kill WT cells. However, after co-culture with WT primary cells, NK cells displayed an impaired cytotoxic activity, decreased production of IFNγ and expression of CD107a, DNAM-1 and NKp30. Analysis of the effects of the interaction between WT cells and monocytes revealed their polarization towards alternatively activated macrophages (M2) that, in turn, further impaired NK cell functions. In conclusion, we show that both WT blastematous and epithelial components may contribute directly and indirectly to a tumor immunosuppressive microenvironment that is likely to play a role in tumor progression.

Low-dose interleukin-2-loaded nanoparticle effect on NK and T-reg cell expression in experimentally induced type 1 diabetes mellitus.

IntroductionType 1 diabetes mellitus is an autoimmune disorder characterized by inflammatory damage to pancreatic β cells resulting in loss of insulin secretion. In autoimmune type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) natural killer cells (NK) initiate pancreatic islets cell lyses in autoimmune T1D. Loss of T regulatory cells (Treg) at disease onset facilitates the activation and accumulation of NKs in the pancreatic microenvironment. A proper low-dose interleukin 2 (IL-2) could enhance Tregs and enforce control and regulation of pro-inflammatory NKs.AimThis relation needs to be studied to improve therapeutic strategies aimed at resetting the balance between Tregs and proinflammatory cells.Material and methodsWe used novel formulations of low-dose IL-2 loaded on chitosan nanoparticles. The study included 116 T1D BALB/c mice experimentally induced by streptozotocin, divided into groups. Their splenocytes were maintained in a short-term culture for assessment of expression of CD4+FOXP3+ Treg and NKp46+NK by both flow cytometry and enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA). Morphological, immunohistochemical, and morphometrical analyses were done. In vitro suppressor assay was used to assess the suppressor effect of Treg cells after exogenous IL-2 treatment.ResultsNK cell expression, NKp46 level, and NK cell functions were modulated more in mice injected with IL-2-loaded chitosan nanoparticles than in other groups. A statistical inverse correlation was found between Treg and NK cell expression in IL-2-loaded chitosan with 0.3 µIU (p = 0.047), and this correlation was related to FOXP3 expression on Treg cells. The modified expression of NK and NKp46 was noticed in mice injected with 0.3 µIU for longer duration (3 weeks) (p < 0.001), but the NK functions did not show any significant changes with prolonged treatment.ConclusionsProlonged administration of low-dose IL-2 results in the vigorous expression of NKp46, indicating a significant role of Tregs in NK stimulation and motivation. Low-dose IL-2 selectively modulates NKp46 NK and FOXP3+ Tregs and increases their expression.

Innate-like NKp30+CD8+ T cells armed with TCR/CAR target tumor heterogeneity

ABSTRACT Intratumoral heterogeneity is frequently associated with tumor immune escape, with MHC-class I and antigen expression loss rendering tumor cells invisible to T cell killing, representing a major challenge for the design of successful adoptive transfer protocols for cancer immunotherapy. While CD8+ T cell recognition of tumor cells is based on the detection of MHC-peptide complexes via specific T cell receptors (TCRs), Natural Killer (NK) cells detect tumor-associated NK ligands by an array of NK receptors. We have recently identified a population of innate-like CD8+ T cells marked by the expression of NKp30, a potent natural cytotoxicity activating NK receptor, whose tumor ligand, B7H6, is frequently upregulated on several cancer types. Here, we harnessed the dual-recognition potential of NKp30+CD8+ T cells, by arming these cells with TCRs or chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) targeting Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (ErbB2, or HER2), a tumor-associated target overexpressed in several malignancies. HER2-specific NKp30+CD8+ T cells killed not only HER2-expressing target cell lines, but also eliminated tumor cells in the absence of MHC-class I or antigen expression, making them especially effective in eliminating heterogeneous tumor cell populations. Our results show that NKp30+CD8+ T cells equipped with a specific TCR or CAR display a dual capacity to recognize and kill target cells, combining the anti-tumor activity of both CD8+ T and NK cells. This dual-recognition capacity allows these effector cells to target tumor heterogeneity, thus improving therapeutic strategies against tumor escape.

Expression of natural cytotoxicity receptor NKp46 on peripheral blood natural killer cells in women with a history of recurrent implantation failures.

The peripheral blood natural killer (NK) cells diversity is highly complex; recent studies described more than a thousand phenotypes sharing NK cell receptors, across the leukocyte lineages. In this study, we investigated the expression of NKp46 in peripheral blood NK cells in women with a history of recurrent implantation failures (RIF) with euploid embryos with pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and control group (donors of oocytes and surrogate mothers). The expression of NKp46 in peripheral blood lymphocytes and NK cells from women with RIF (n = 57) and control group (n = 50) was analyzed with three-color flow cytometry. The percentage of NKp46+ NK cells was significantly higher in women with RIF compare with the control group and high amount of NKp46+ NK cells (>13% of total lymphocytes) was a poor prognostic factor for embryo implantation. Also, women with RIF had a low amount of NKp46neg NK cells, which was a negative prognostic factor for embryo implantation. The analysis of NK subpopulations, on the basis of NKp46 expression, also revealed that NKp46neg NK in low amounts (<20% of NK cells) and NKp46dim in high amounts (>50% of NK cells) are also negative prognostic factors for embryo implantation. Our results support the clinical significance of the NKp46 expression on NK cells in women with RIF. We suggest that the low level of NKp46neg subset in women with RIF may be a result of an imbalance in the differential development of ILC subsets toward cytotoxic ILC (NK cells), which in turn is a negative condition for successful embryo implantation.

Increased early activation of CD56dimCD16dim/- natural killer cells in immunological non-responders correlates with CD4+ T-cell recovery.

BackgroundNatural killer (NK) cells play a critical role in suppressing human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infection, but knowledge on whether and how NK cells affect immune reconstitution in HIV-1-infected individuals who receive antiretroviral therapy (ART) is limited.MethodsWe performed a case-control study with 35 healthy individuals and 66 HIV-1-infected patients including 32 immunological non-responders (INRs) with poor CD4+ T-cell recovery (<500 cells/μL after 4 years of ART) and 34 immunological responders (IRs) with improved CD4+ T-cell recovery (>500 cells/μL after 4 years of ART). NK cell phenotype, receptor repertoire, and early activation in INRs and IRs were investigated by flow cytometry.ResultsA significantly higher proportion of CD56dimCD16dim/- NK cells was observed in INRs than IRs before ART and after 4 years of ART. The number of CD56dimCD16dim/- NK cells was inversely correlated with CD4+ T-cell counts in INRs before ART (r = –0.344, P = 0.050). The more CD69-expressing NK cells there were, the lower the CD4+ T-cell counts and ΔCD4, and these correlations were observed in INRs after ART (r = –0.416, P = 0.019; r = –0.509, P = 0.003, respectively). Additionally, CD69-expressing CD56dimCD16dim/- NK cells were more abundant in INRs than those in IRs (P = 0.018) after ART, both of which had an inverse association trend towards significance with CD4+ T-cell counts. The expression of the activating receptors NKG2C, NKG2D, and NKp46 on CD56dimCD16dim/- NK cell subsets were higher in IRs than that in INRs after 4 years of ART (all P < 0.01). Strong inverse correlations were observed between CD69 expression and NKG2C, NKG2A-NKG2C+, NKG2D, and NKp46 expression on CD56dimCD16dim/- NK cells in INRs after ART (NKG2C: r = –0.491, P = 0.004; NKG2A-NKG2C+: r = –0.434, P = 0.013; NKG2D: r = –0.405, P = 0.021; NKp46: r = –0.457, P = 0.008, respectively).ConclusionsINRs had a larger number of CD56dimCD16dim/- NK cells characterized by higher activation levels than did IRs after ART. The increase in the CD56dimCD16dim/- NK cell subset may play an adverse role in immune reconstitution. Further functional studies of CD56dimCD16dim/- NK cells in INRs are urgently needed to inform targeted interventions to optimize immune recovery.

Impact of Long-Term Cryopreservation on Blood Immune Cell Markers in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Implications for Biomarker Discovery.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex neuroimmune disorder characterized by numerous symptoms of unknown etiology. The ME/CFS immune markers reported so far have failed to generate a clinical consensus, perhaps partly due to the limitations of biospecimen biobanking. To address this issue, we performed a comparative analysis of the impact of long-term biobanking on previously identified immune markers and also explored additional potential immune markers linked to infection in ME/CFS. A correlation analysis of marker cryostability across immune cell subsets based on flow cytometry immunophenotyping of fresh blood and frozen PBMC samples collected from individuals with ME/CFS (n = 18) and matched healthy controls (n = 18) was performed. The functionality of biobanked samples was assessed on the basis of cytokine production assay after stimulation of frozen PBMCs. T cell markers defining Treg subsets and the expression of surface glycoprotein CD56 in T cells and the frequency of the effector CD8 T cells, together with CD57 expression in NK cells, appeared unaltered by biobanking. By contrast, NK cell markers CD25 and CD69 were notably increased, and NKp46 expression markedly reduced, by long-term cryopreservation and thawing. Further exploration of Treg and NK cell subsets failed to identify significant differences between ME/CFS patients and healthy controls in terms of biobanked PBMCs. Our findings show that some of the previously identified immune markers in T and NK cell subsets become unstable after cell biobanking, thus limiting their use in further immunophenotyping studies for ME/CFS. These data are potentially relevant for future multisite intervention studies and cooperative projects for biomarker discovery using ME/CFS biobanked samples. Further studies are needed to develop novel tools for the assessment of biomarker stability in cryopreserved immune cells from people with ME/CFS.

Expanded and activated allogeneic NK cells are cytotoxic against B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) cells with sporadic cases of resistance

Adoptive transfer of allogeneic natural killer (NK) cells is becoming a credible immunotherapy for hematological malignancies. In the present work, using an optimized expansion/activation protocol of human NK cells, we generate expanded NK cells (eNK) with increased expression of CD56 and NKp44, while maintaining that of CD16. These eNK cells exerted significant cytotoxicity against cells from 34 B-CLL patients, with only 1 sample exhibiting resistance. This sporadic resistance did not correlate with match between KIR ligands expressed by the eNK cells and the leukemic cells, while cells with match resulted sensitive to eNK cells. This suggests that KIR mismatch is not relevant when expanded NK cells are used as effectors. In addition, we found two examples of de novo resistance to eNK cell cytotoxicity during the clinical course of the disease. Resistance correlated with KIR-ligand match in one of the patients, but not in the other, and was associated with a significant increase in PD-L1 expression in the cells from both patients. Treatment of one of these patients with idelalisib correlated with the loss of PD-L1 expression and with re-sensitization to eNK cytotoxicity. We confirmed the idelalisib-induced decrease in PD-L1 expression in the B-CLL cell line Mec1 and in cultured cells from B-CLL patients. As a main conclusion, our results reinforce the feasibility of using expanded and activated allogeneic NK cells in the treatment of B-CLL.

FcRγ Gene Editing Reprograms Conventional NK Cells to Display Key Features of Adaptive Human NK Cells.

SummaryAdaptive human natural killer (NK) cells display significantly enhanced responsiveness to a broad-range of antibody-bound targets through the engagement of CD16 compared to conventional NK cells, yet direct reactivity against tumor targets is generally reduced. Adaptive NK cells also display a distinct phenotype and differential expression of numerous genes, including reduced expression of signaling adapter FcRγ and transcription factor PLZF. However, it is unclear whether differential expression of specific genes is responsible for the characteristics of adaptive NK cells. Using CRISPR-Cas9, we show deletion of FcRγ in conventional NK cells led to enhanced CD16 responsiveness, abolished cell surface expression of natural cytotoxicity receptors, NKp46 and NKp30, and dramatically reduced responsiveness to K562 and Raji tumor cells. However, deletion of PLZF had no notable effects. These results suggest multiple roles for FcRγ and identify its deficiency as an important factor responsible for the functional and phenotypic characteristics exhibited by adaptive NK cells.

OMIP-070: NKp46-Based 27-Color Phenotyping to Define Natural Killer Cells Isolated From Human Tumor Tissues.

Purpose and appropriate samplesThis 27‐color panel has been validated and optimized to comprehensively profile natural killer (NK) cells isolated from human tumors using a collagenase Type II‐based digestion protocol. We confirmed that detection of protein expression by antibodies used in our final panel was not affected during tissue digestion. During this evaluation process, we found that detection of CD56, a biomarker typically used to identify NK cells, was affected substantially by collagenase‐based digestion. Thus, our panel is centered around expression of NKp46, which is sufficient to identify NK cells and not affected by the tissue collagenase digestion step. Our panel further includes biomarkers used to extrapolate NK‐cell maturation, differentiation, migration, homing potential, and functional state. Our panel is intended to provide in‐depth characterization of human NK cells isolated from tissues, which we specifically tested using oral squamous cell carcinomas tissues, but it is compatible with other tissues that can be dissociated with a collagenase Type II‐based protocol. © 2020 The Authors. Cytometry Part A published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

In vivo Anti-Cancer Effects of Resveratrol Mediated by NK Cell Activation

Natural killer (NK) cells are innate immune lymphocytes that play an important role in anti-viral and anti-tumour immune responses. Several cancer immunotherapy approaches targeting NK cells are currently in clinical or preclinical development. Here, we aimed to find food nutrients that activate NK cells and determine their usefulness as candidates for anti-cancer and anti-metastatic drugs. Resveratrol appeared to activate NK cells most effectively among the substances tested and synergistically increased IFN-γ secretion and NK cell cytotoxicity with interleukin-2 (IL-2). CD107a, NKp30, and NKG2D expression levels were upregulated on the surface of NK cells upon treatment with resveratrol in combination with IL-2 compared with treatment with IL-2 alone. Moreover, NK cell activity in human and mouse whole blood was enhanced upon treatment with resveratrol. Most importantly, administration of resveratrol effectively inhibited tumour growth and metastasis in mice. In conclusion, we suggest that resveratrol may represent a candidate anti-cancer drug that acts by activating NK cells in vivo.

Natural killer cell phenotype is altered in HIV-exposed seronegative women

Highly exposed seronegative (HESN) individuals present a unique setting to study mechanisms of protection against HIV acquisition. As natural killer (NK) cell activation and function have been implicated as a correlate of protection in HESN individuals, we sought to better understand the features of NK cells that may confer protection. We used mass cytometry to phenotypically profile NK cells from a cohort of Beninese sex workers and healthy controls. We found that NK cells from HESN women had increased expression of NKG2A, NKp30 and LILRB1, as well as the Fc receptor CD16, and decreased expression of DNAM-1, CD94, Siglec-7, and NKp44. Using functional assessments of NK cells from healthy donors against autologous HIV-infected CD4+ T cells, we observed that NKp30+ and Siglec-7+ cells had improved functional activity. Further, we found that NK cells from HESN women trended towards increased antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity; this activity correlated with increased CD16 expression. Overall, we identify features of NK cells in HESN women that may contribute to protection from HIV infection. Follow up studies with larger cohorts are warranted to confirm these findings.

MTOR INHIBITORS ENHANCE ANTITUMOR ACTIVITY OF LIVER NATURAL KILLER CELLS IN MICE

Background: Liver transplantation (LT) is the best available option for patients with end stage liver disease and HCC. However, recipients are at high risk of cancer recurrence and infection, due to immunosuppressive (IS) therapy. IS used in LT commonly consist of calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) or a mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), anti-metabolite and corticosteroids. Liver is an important immunological organ with a unique microenvironment. Innate and adaptive immune responses shapes the balance between immune tolerance and activation. It is well-known that IS drugs targeting the adaptive component of immunity, while innate immune cells become the only self-defense mechanism against neoplastic cells and infectious agents. However, the effect of IS drugs on liver resident immune cells are not well known. In this study, we analyzed the effect of two main IS drugs, calcineurin inhibitors and mTOR inhibitors on adaptive and innate immune components of the liver in mice Method: C57/BL6 mice were treated by intraperitoneal injection of mTORi (rapamycin and everolimus) and CNI (cyclosporine) for 7 days. Twenty-four hours after the last injection, liver mononuclear cells (LMNCs), splenocytes were collected. The proportion of T cells, NKT cells and NK cells and various functional molecules were analyzed by flow cytometry. Result: The proportion of TCR+NK1.1- T cells, TCR+NK1.1+ NKT cells in LMNC did not differ in both CNI mTORi treated groups. TCR-NK1.1+NK fraction in LMNCs was significantly increased in mTORi group (9.5 in mTORi groups versus 7.8 in control group), CNI treatment had no effect on NK cells frequency. mTORi treatment significantly upregulated the TRAIL positive NK cells (38.5%±4.0 in mTORi group vs 21.0%±8.3 in untreated, p =0.003). CNI treatment oppositely significantly decreased the TRAIL positive NK cell population (16.4%±4.2 in CNI group vs 21.0%±8.3 in untreated, p <0.05). CD 69 and Nkp46 expression on liver NK cells were not changed significantly in both mTORi and CNI treated groups in comparison to control group. Moreover, liver NK cells from mTORi treated mice showed significantly higher cytotoxicity against TRAIL-sensitive Hepa1-6 cells (30.1% ± 13.0 vs 13.5 %± 6.0, p=0.009). Cytotoxicity against TRAIL resistant YAC-1 mouse lymphoma was not significantly enhanced after mTORi treatment (53.6 % ± 4.4 vs 39.9% ± 1.2). Conclusion: mTOR inhibitors has ability to enhance liver resident NK cell activity. This result suggests that mTOR inhibitors might be useful to maintain anti-microbe and anti-tumor immunity even under immunosuppressive condition after transplantation.

Abstract A60: Transcriptional profile of CD56negCD16pos Natural Killer cells within endemic Burkitt lymphoma

Abstract Endemic Burkitt lymphoma (eBL), the most common pediatric cancer in equatorial Africa, has long been associated with two etiologic agents: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Plasmodium falciparum malaria. On the other hand, Natural Killer (NK) cells are essential in the clearance of infected cells as well as play a critical role in tumor immunosurveillance. Despite chronic viral infections as HIV, HCV, which have been found to promote the expansion of a CD56 (negative) NK cell subset with impaired effector function, previous cancer studies have been limited to investigations of CD56dimCD16pos NK cells. We previously published that eBL children had significantly more CD56negCD16pos NK cells compared to age-matched healthy children from a low and high malaria transmission area. Here, we characterized this CD56negCD16pos NK subset using histology staining, multicolor flow cytometry, and RNA-sequencing. We found CD56negCD16pos NK cells to be morphologically similar to CD56dimCD16pos NK cells but had higher expression of FCGR3B (CD16b) (p=0.000008) and MPEG1 (Perforin 2) (p=0.0000007), and lower expression of KLRF1 (NKp80), IL18RAP and IL18R1 (IL18 receptor) (p=0.000003, p=0.000003 and p=0.00005, respectively). Phenotypically, CD56negCD16pos NK cells share characteristics of adaptive NK cells; however, they differ from “memory-like” NK cells, with consistent expression of NKG2C/CD57, lower expression of NKp46 and CD160, and higher expression of KIR3DL1 compared to CD56dimCD16pos NK cells. Finally, higher plasma levels of IL-12p70 and IL-2 (known to help NK cell activation and proliferation) and IL-6 and MIP1a were found in healthy compared to eBL children. Together, these findings suggest that the expansion of CD56negCD16pos NK cells could help explain diminished tumor immunosurveillance and might be a mechanism by which EBV-infected cells evades NK-cell mediated immunity. Citation Format: Catherine S. Forconi, Cliff Oduor, John M. Ong’echa, Jeff Bailey, Ann M. Moormann. Transcriptional profile of CD56negCD16pos Natural Killer cells within endemic Burkitt lymphoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on the Advances in Pediatric Cancer Research; 2019 Sep 17-20; Montreal, QC, Canada. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(14 Suppl):Abstract nr A60.

IFNβ-induced exosomal linc-EPHA6-1 promotes cytotoxicity of NK cells by acting as a ceRNA for hsa-miR-4485-5p to up-regulate NKp46 expression

AimsExosomes contain functional molecules from their cells of origin and can enter recipient cells for intercellular communication. Interferon β (IFNβ) has been shown to induce some lncRNAs to regulate host immune response and play a major role in the positive regulation of the activity of natural killer (NK) cells. We aim to clarify whether IFNβ induced exosomes can regulate the cytotoxicity of NK cells by transferring specific lncRNAs into NK cells. Main methodsExosomes were isolated from the supernatants of A549 cells with or without IFNβ treatment. Co-culture and ELISA assay were used to analyze the effect of exosomes on the cytotoxicity of NK cells. Human transcriptome array (HTA) was performed to analyze the profiling of RNAs wrapped in exosomes. Then subcellular location, qPCR, western blotting, dual-luciferase reporter assay and ELISA were used to determine long noncoding RNAs (lcnRNAs) location, sponge absorb effects, the expression of NKp46 and cytotoxicity of NK cells. Key findingsELISA assay showed IFNβ induced exosomes can strengthen the cytotoxicity of NK cells. Through HTA we found the expression levels of 69 lncRNAs were significantly changed within IFNβ induced exosomes. Additionally, we found a specific exosomal cargo, linc-EPHA6-1, acted as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for hsa-miR-4485-5p which subsequently up-regulate one of the natural cytotoxicity receptors (NKp46) expression. Furthermore, we verified over-expression of linc-EPHA6-1 significantly enhances the cytotoxicity of NK cells against A549 cells and Zika virus infected A549 cells. SignificanceOur results demonstrated that IFNβ-induced exosomal linc-EPHA6-1 can regulate the cytotoxicity of NK cells.