NK Cell Priming Research Articles

IL-15 Priming Alters IFN-γ Regulation in Murine NK Cells.

NK effector functions can be triggered by inflammatory cytokines and engagement of activating receptors. NK cell production of IFN-γ, an important immunoregulatory cytokine, exhibits activation-specific IFN-γ regulation. Resting murine NK cells exhibit activation-specific metabolic requirements for IFN-γ production, which are reversed for activating receptor-mediated stimulation following IL-15 priming. Although both cytokine and activating receptor stimulation leads to similar IFN-γ protein production, only cytokine stimulation upregulates Ifng transcript, suggesting that protein production is translationally regulated after receptor stimulation. Based on these differences in IFN-γ regulation, we hypothesized that ex vivo IL-15 priming of murine NK cells allows a switch to IFN-γ transcription upon activating receptor engagement. Transcriptional analysis of primed NK cells compared with naive cells or cells cultured with low-dose IL-15 demonstrated that primed cells strongly upregulated Ifng transcript following activating receptor stimulation. This was not due to chromatin accessibility changes in the Ifng locus or changes in ITAM signaling, but was associated with a distinct transcriptional signature induced by ITAM stimulation of primed compared with naive NK cells. Transcriptional analyses identified a common signature of c-Myc (Myc) targets associated with Ifng transcription. Although Myc marked NK cells capable of Ifng transcription, Myc itself was not required for Ifng transcription using a genetic model of Myc deletion. This work highlights altered regulatory networks in IL-15-primed cells, resulting in distinct gene expression patterns and IFN-γ regulation in response to activating receptor stimulation.

Short-term IL-15 priming leaves a long-lasting signalling imprint in mouse NK cells independently of a metabolic switch.

IL-15 priming of NK cells is a broadly accepted concept, but the dynamics and underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. We show that as little as 5 min of IL-15 treatment in vitro, followed by removal of excess cytokines, results in a long-lasting, but reversible, augmentation of NK cell responsiveness upon activating receptor cross-linking. In contrast to long-term stimulation, improved NK cell function after short-term IL-15 priming was not associated with enhanced metabolism but was based on the increased steady-state phosphorylation level of signalling molecules downstream of activating receptors. Inhibition of JAK3 eliminated this priming effect, suggesting a cross talk between the IL-15 receptor and ITAM-dependent activating receptors. Increased signalling molecule phosphorylation levels, calcium flux, and IFN-γ secretion lasted for up to 3 h after IL-15 stimulation before returning to baseline. We conclude that IL-15 rapidly and reversibly primes NK cell function by modulating activating receptor signalling. Our findings suggest a mechanism by which NK cell reactivity can potentially be maintained in vivo based on only brief encounters with IL-15 trans-presenting cells.

A trispecific killer engager molecule against CLEC12A effectively induces NK-cell mediated killing of AML cells

The low five-year survival rate for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), primarily caused due to disease relapse, emphasizes the need for better therapeutic strategies. Disease relapse is facilitated by leukemic stem cells (LSCs) that are resistant to standard chemotherapy and promote tumor growth. To target AML blasts and LSCs using Natural Killer (NK) cells, we have developed a trispecific killer engager (TriKE™) molecule containing a humanized anti-CD16 heavy chain camelid single domain antibody (sdAb) that activates NK cells, an IL-15 molecule that drives NK cell priming, expansion and survival, and a single-chain variable fragment (scFv) against human CLEC12A (CLEC12A TriKE). CLEC12A is a myeloid lineage antigen that is highly expressed by AML cells and LSCs, but not expressed by normal hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), thus minimizing off-target toxicity. The CLEC12A TriKE induced robust NK cell specific proliferation, enhanced NK cell activation and killing of both AML cell lines and primary patient derived AML blasts in vitro while sparing healthy HSCs. Additionally, the CLEC12A TriKE was able to reduce tumor burden in pre-clinical mouse models. These findings highlight the clinical potential of the CLEC12A TriKE for the effective treatment of AML.

Gab3 adaptor prevents NK cell dysfunction

Immunology Natural killer (NK) cells are innate effector cells that help defend mammals from viral infections and cancer while acting locally in the uterus to support successful pregnancy outcomes. Sliz et al. performed a chemical mutagenesis screen in mice and identified Gab3 as a scaffolding protein required for NK cell priming and peripheral expansion in response to cytokines. Gab3 mutant mice exhibited defects in their ability to control tumors and successfully complete pregnancies because of impaired NK cell function. Thus, an adaptor protein is required to achieve full NK cell function, and subtle uterine NK cell perturbations can contribute to pregnancy failure. Sci. Immunol. 4 , eaav3866 (2019).

Abstract 3245: Durvalumab induces an NK cell response associated with clinical benefit of patients with advanced NSCLC

Abstract Introduction: The role of CD8 cells in determining clinical outcome to programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) blocking treatments has been well characterized, however, the contribution of NK cells is not well understood. This is partly due to the paucity of NK cell-specific markers that can identify NK cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME). We developed an NK cell-specific transcriptional signature to estimate the NK cell abundance in the TME. This signature, together with NK-chemokines shown to modulate the priming of adaptive immunity1 were investigated in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with a PD-L1 inhibitor, durvalumab. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorted (FACS) NK/ CD8 populations from three heathy donors were subjected to single cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq, 10X Genomics) and transcriptome analysis (Affymetrix), respectively. Fresh frozen tumor biopsies from 97 NSCLC were profiled with RNA sequencing prior to durvalumab treatment; 29 of these had paired tumors procured 29 days following treatment with durvalumab. Kaplan Meier (KM) analyses were performed to identify predictive effects of the NK cell-specific signature. Clinical trial:1108/NCT01693562 Results: Transcripts over-expressed in sorted NK relative to CD8 cells were first identified (p <0.01; fold >3) and intersected with 28 mRNAs up-regulated in the NK cell cluster determined by scRNAseq, providing an 8 gene NK cell-specific transcriptional signature defined as MEDI-NK. MEDI-NK correlated with NK signatures recently described2, and included chemokines shown to induce an effective NK- response1. When evaluated in TCGA, higher expression of MEDI-NK was associated with good prognosis (Overall Survival, OS) of patients with melanoma and breast cancer (p value =0.03 and =0.001, respectively). At baseline, MEDI-NK was highly correlated with the previously identified IFNγ signature3 and was associated with Progression Free Survival (PFS p value < 0.02) of NSCLC patients treated with durvalumab. Following treatment with durvalumab, the increased expression of MEDI-NK and of additional genes leading to NK-priming of adaptive immunity1 was observed to be associated with patients’ overall survival (OS p value <0.01). Similar findings were not observed prior to durvalumab treatment. Conclusions: Using single cell analysis, an NK cell-specific signature was developed to better define the role of NK cells in anti-PDL1 therapy. The increased expressions of the NK cell-specific signature and of genes leading to NK-cell priming of adaptive immune response were associated with clinical benefit to durvalumab.

Type I Interferon Receptor on NK Cells Negatively Regulates Interferon-γ Production.

NK cells are a key antiviral component of the innate immune response to HSV-2, particularly through their production of IFN-γ. It is still commonly thought that type I IFN activates NK cell function; however, rather than requiring the type I IFN receptor themselves, we have previously found that type I IFN activates NK cells through an indirect mechanism involving inflammatory monocytes and IL-18. Here, we further show that direct action of type I IFN on NK cells, rather than inducing IFN-γ, negatively regulates its production during HSV-2 infection and cytokine stimulation. During infection, IFN-γ is rapidly induced from NK cells at day 2 post-infection and then immediately downregulated at day 3 post-infection. We found that this downregulation of IFN-γ release was not due to a loss of NK cells at day 3 post-infection, but negatively regulated through IFN signaling on NK cells. Absence of IFNAR on NK cells led to a significantly increased level of IFN-γ compared to WT NK cells after HSV-2 infection in vitro. Further, priming of NK cells with type I IFN was able to suppress cytokine-induced IFN-γ production from both human and mouse NK cells. We found that this immunosuppression was not mediated by IL-10. Rather, we found that type I IFN induced a significant increase in Axl expression on human NK cells. Overall, our data suggests that type I IFN negatively regulates NK cell IFN-γ production through a direct mechanism in vitro and during HSV-2 infection.

The GRB2-associated binding protein 3 is required for IL-2 and IL-15 induced NK cell expansion and limits trophoblast invasion during pregnancy

Abstract The Grb2-associated binding protein 3 (Gab3) is a scaffolding protein that belongs to the Grb2-assocated binding family of proteins along with Gab1 and Gab2. Gab3 is expressed exclusively in immune cells including NK cells, CD8+T cells, mast cells and macrophages, however the function of Gab3 has remained elusive. Based on two independent mouse models; a hypomorph germline mouse model carrying a missense mutation in the PH domain of Gab3 and complete Gab3-KO mice, we uncovered a key role for Gab3 in peripheral NK cell function. Specifically, loss of Gab3 results in impaired IL-2/IL-15-induced NK cell priming and expansion, due to a selective impairment in MAPK- but not STAT5-signaling. In vivo, we show that Gab3 is required for recognition and elimination of “missing-self” and tumor targets. Gab3-deficient mice exhibit impaired uterine NK cell expansion that is associated with abnormal spiral artery remodeling and increased trophoblast invasion in the decidua basalis. This coincides with stillbirth, retained placenta, maternal hemorrhage and undelivered fetoplacental units at term. Thus, our studies identify Gab3 as a novel component required for IL-2/IL-15-mediated NK cell priming and expansion that is essential for anti-tumor responses and for controlling fetal trophoblast invasion during pregnancy.

NK cell immune responses differ after prime and boost vaccination.

A better understanding of innate responses induced by vaccination is critical for designing optimal vaccines. Here, we studied the diversity and dynamics of the NK cell compartment after prime-boost immunization with the modified vaccinia virus Ankara using cynomolgus macaques as a model. Mass cytometry was used to deeply characterize blood NK cells. The NK cell subphenotype composition was modified by the prime. Certain phenotypic changes induced by the prime were maintained over time and, as a result, the NK cell composition prior to boost differed from that before prime. The key phenotypic signature that distinguished NK cells responding to the boost from those responding to the prime included stronger expression of several cytotoxic, homing, and adhesion molecules, suggesting that NK cells at recall were functionally distinct. Our data reveal potential priming or imprinting of NK cells after the first vaccine injection. This study provides novel insights into prime-boost vaccination protocols that could be used to optimize future vaccines.

Induction of the BIM Short Splice Variant Sensitizes Proliferating NK Cells to IL-15 Withdrawal

Adoptive transfer of allogeneic NK cells holds great promise for cancer immunotherapy. There is a variety of protocols to expand NK cells in vitro, most of which are based on stimulation with cytokines alone or in combination with feeder cells. Although IL-15 is essential for NK cell homeostasis in vivo, it is commonly used at supraphysiological levels to induce NK cell proliferation in vitro. As a result, adoptive transfer of such IL-15-addicted NK cells is associated with cellular stress because of sudden cytokine withdrawal. In this article, we describe a dose-dependent addiction to IL-15 during in vitro expansion of human NK cells, leading to caspase-3 activation and profound cell death upon IL-15 withdrawal. NK cell addiction to IL-15 was tightly linked to the BCL-2/BIM ratio, which rapidly dropped during IL-15 withdrawal. Furthermore, we observed a proliferation-dependent induction of BIM short, a highly proapoptotic splice variant of BIM in IL-15-activated NK cells. These findings shed new light on the molecular mechanisms involved in NK cell apoptosis following cytokine withdrawal and may guide future NK cell priming strategies in a cell therapy setting.

Abstract 4939: Driving natural killer cell antigen-specific targeting of cancer via next generation trivalent molecules

Abstract Natural Killer (NK) cells are components of innate immune response that are involved in tumor surveillance and clearance. Due to their ability to lyse tumor targets without prior priming they have gained some notoriety in the tumor immunotherapy setting. Although NK cells sense malignant transformation of cells through a number of stochastic receptors they posses no clonotypic receptors to drive specific recognition of tumor antigens, somewhat limiting their therapeutic applications. In order to address the antigen specificity issue we generated molecules, termed Tri-Specific Killer Engagers (TriKEs), that contain three arms: one arm contains a single chain variable fragment (scFv) that binds a potent NK cell activating receptor (CD16); one arm contains an scFv that binds a tumor antigen; and one arm contains the cytokine IL-15 to drive NK cell priming, expansion and survival. Initial pre-clinical studies with these first generation molecules showed that we could use them to target hematological malignancies (via a CD33 binding arm) both in vitro and in vivo or solid malignancies (via an EpCAM binding arm) in vitro. However, to improve on this platform we altered the molecule by swapping out the anti-CD16 scFv arm with a humanized camelid single domain antibody against CD16 (termed cam16 henceforth). This second generation cam16 TriKE platform potently enhanced NK cell activation against tumor targets and induced far greater NK cell expansion when compared to the first generation TriKE. Using our bacterial expression system we generated and isolated cam16 TriKEs against a number of different tumor antigens (CD33, EpCAM, Mesothelin and ROR1) to display the ability of the second generation TriKE platform to target a variety of cancers. To test these molecules we used flow cytometry based NK cell activation assays, where NK cells co-cultured with tumor targets +/- cam16 TriKEs are evaluated for NK cell degranulation (by expression of surface CD107a) and NK cell inflammatory cytokine production (by expression of intracellular IFNγ). We also used a real-time imaging platform, the IncuCyte Zoom, to evaluate the ability of NK cells to kill tumor targets in the presence or absence of cam16 TriKEs over a 2-3 day period. Our data indicates that cam16 TriKEs drive NK cell specific degranulation, inflammation, and killing of AML (CD33), ovarian cancer (EpCAM and Mesothelin), lung cancer (Mesothelin and EpCAM) and sarcoma (ROR1) tumor targets in vitro. Furthermore cam16 TriKE in vivo efficacy could be seen in humanized mouse models using both luciferase-labeled cell lines and patient derived xenografts. Taken together, these findings clearly highlight the translational potential of cam16 TriKEs in the tumor immunotherapy setting. Citation Format: Martin Felices, Behiye Kodal, Alexander J. Lenvik, Brianna Ettestad, Laura Bendzick, Caitlin Ryan, Dawn K. Schirm, Ron McElmurry, Craig E. Eckfeldt, Melissa A. Geller, Todd R. Lenvik, Daniel A. Vallera, Jeffrey S. Miller. Driving natural killer cell antigen-specific targeting of cancer via next generation trivalent molecules [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4939.

Frontline Science: IL-18 primes murine NK cells for proliferation by promoting protein synthesis, survival, and autophagy.

Combined stimulation by IL-2 and IL-18 effectively promotes proliferation of NK cells, whereas singular stimulation does not. In this study, synergistic effects of these cytokines on NK cells proliferation was analyzed, focusing on the roles of IL-18. In splenic resting NK cells from IL-18KO mice, IL-18 rapidly activated NF-κB independently of IL-2, and activated or up-regulated various molecules downstream of PI3K/AKT and mTOR, including S6, Bcl-XL, ATG5, and LC3II, accompanying increases in cell growth and survival. Thus, IL-18 alone was revealed to augment various cellular processes (gene transcription, protein synthesis, survival) in the absence or presence of IL-2. Notably, combined IL-18 and IL-2 promoted autophagosome formation. In addition, priming NK cells with IL-18 augmented IL-2R, especially CD25, and enabled cells to respond to IL-2, resulting inactivation of STAT3 and STAT5,followed by increase of cyclin B1 leading to proliferation. However, IL-2 alone failed to activate STAT3 or STAT5 in resting IL18KO NK cells. These results clarify the distinct roles of IL-2 and IL-18 in NK cell proliferation, and the intrinsic roles of IL-18 in various cellular processes, suggesting a range of functions of IL-18 expressed in an array of nonhematopoietic cells.

Abstract 2629: The synergy between BXCL701, a DPP inhibitor, and immune checkpoint inhibitors discovered using AI and Big Data analytics

Abstract Using the proprietary Big Data PharmGPS® Discovery platform, BioXcel has created a comprehensive relationship map between immune-evasion and immune-activation pathways, comprising interacting genes and all overlapping pharmacological agents and tumors. This map was used to identify clinically validated compounds that would act synergistically in combination with immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) by remodelling the tumor micro-enviroment and transforming cold, non-inflamed tumors into hot immune-sensitive tumors. One of the several compounds thus identified is BXCL701, previously known as Talabostat/PT-100, a DPP inhibitor that by inducing a wide panel of cytokines and chemokines stimulates both the innate and acquired immune system. BXCL701 has a dual immuno-oncology related MOA. Via the Fibroblast Activator Protein (FAP) target, it inhibits the activation of immuno-suppressive fibroblasts and through an angiogenic related effect, it increases immune cell extravasation into the tumor tissue. Via the DPP8/9 targets, it depresses the immuno-suppressive activity of MDSCs by inducing a granulocytic differentiation while it stimulates the priming, migration and cytotoxicity of T-cells and NK cells and the formation of memory T-cells. The hypothesis that BXCL701 immune-mediated MOA would complement the action of ICIs was validated in-vivo in the syngeneic MC38 mouse model of colon adenocarcinoma. Co-administration of BXCL701 combined with anti-PD1 showed a synergistic inhibition of tumor growth as well as synergistic up-regulation of immuno-stimulatory cytokines, IL-2, IL12 and GM-CSF. The effects of the combination on the immune-phenotyping of the circulating and tumor infiltrated immune cells will also be presented. The findings support BXCL701 ability to transform the immune-suppressive tumour microenvironment to an immuno-permissive milieu sensitive to immune-checkpoint inhibitors. Further supporting the therapeutic potential of BXCL701, an analysis of genomic alterations in FAP, DPP8 and DPP9 across a wide range of tumors singled out castration-resistant prostate cancer with a high level of DPP9 amplification (14%) and overexpression of DPP8 in 50% of the patients which could make this patient population uniquely sensitive to the combination as shown by in-vitro and in-vivo experiments. This study provides further evidence of the capability of Big data analytics to generate in-silico hypothesis of synergistic combination effects that can be converted in validated therapeutic opportunities to benefit patients non- responsive to ICI therapy. Citation Format: Luca Rastelli, Snigdha Gupta, Akhil Dahiya, Zeenia Jagga, Krishnan Nandabalan, Sanatan Upmanyu. The synergy between BXCL701, a DPP inhibitor, and immune checkpoint inhibitors discovered using AI and Big Data analytics [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2629. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-2629

CD16-IL15-CD33 Trispecific Killer Engager (TriKE) induces NK cell expansion, persistence, and myeloid blast antigen specific killing.

Abstract NK cell infusions induce complete remissions in 30–50% of patients with refractory AML when combined with lymphodepleting chemotherapy and IL-2. NK cell therapy is limited by lack of antigen specificity and by IL-2 mediated induction of Tregs. To overcome these limitations we developed a 161533 trispecific killer engager (TriKE) molecule containing an anti-CD16 scFv, to engage NK cells, an anti-CD33 scFv, to engage AML targets, and an IL-15 molecule. We have shown previously that a 1633 bispecific killer engager (BiKE) is capable of creating an immunologic synapse between NK cells and AML targets leading to target killing. These molecules generate higher affinity interactions than natural CD16 binding to Fc portions of therapeutic antibodies, resulting in increased NK cell functionality. Addition of IL-15 in the TriKE molecule is meant to enhance NK cell priming, proliferation, and maintenance without inducing Tregs. Cytotoxicity assays and cytokine secretion assessment of NK cells incubated with CD33+ HL-60 target cells indicated that the TriKE induced greater NK cell activation than the BiKE or no molecule control. The TriKE was able to induce potent NK cell proliferation and survival when compared to the BiKE. Interestingly, when compared to recombinant IL-15 the TriKE induced less proliferation of T cells while inducing similar proliferation of NK cells from healthy donors, indicating specificity. The TriKE was capable of rescuing NK cell function of post-transplant patients. In vivo functionality was tested in an NSG xenogeneic model engrafted with HL-60-luc targets and NK cells. TriKE treatment resulted in reduced tumor burden and NK cell maintenance at day 21, displaying the immunotherapeutic potential of the molecule.

Priming of Human Resting NK Cells by Autologous M1 Macrophages via the Engagement of IL-1β, IFN-β, and IL-15 Pathways.

The cross talk between NK cells and macrophages is emerging as a major line of defense against microbial infections and tumors. This study reveals a complex network of soluble mediators and cell-to-cell interactions allowing human classically activated (M1) macrophages, but not resting (M0) or alternatively activated (M2) macrophages, to prime resting autologous NK cells. In this article, we show that M1 increase NK cell cytotoxicity by IL-23 and IFN-β-dependent upregulation of NKG2D, IL-1β-dependent upregulation of NKp44, and trans-presentation of IL-15. Moreover, both IFN-β-dependent cis-presentation of IL-15 on NK cells and engagement of the 2B4-CD48 pathway are used by M1 to trigger NK cell production of IFN-γ. The disclosure of these synergic cellular mechanisms regulating the M1-NK cell cross talk provides novel insights to better understand the role of innate immune responses in the physiopathology of tumor biology and microbial infections.

NK receptors: tools for a polyvalent cell family.

NK receptors: tools for a polyvalent cell family.

The Host Environment Is Responsible for Aging-Related Functional NK Cell Deficiency

NK cells play an important role in immunity against infection and tumors. Aging-related functional NK cell deficiency is well documented in humans and mice. However, the mechanism for this is poorly understood. Using an adoptive transfer approach in mice, we found that NK cells from both young and aged mice responded vigorously to priming by pathogen-derived products after being cotransferred into young mice. In contrast, NK cells from young mice responded poorly to priming by pathogen-derived products after being transferred to aged mice. In addition to defects in NK cell priming, maturation of NK cells under steady-state conditions is also impaired in aged mice, resulting in a decreased proportion of CD27(-) mature NK cells. We found that bone marrow from young and aged mice gave rise to CD27(-) mature NK cells similarly in young mixed bone marrow chimeric mice. Furthermore, by using a novel bone marrow transfer approach without irradiation, we found that after being transferred to aged mice, bone marrow from young mice gave rise to NK cells with maturation defects. Finally, we found that aging-related functional NK cell deficiency was completely reversed by injecting soluble IL-15/IL-15Rα complexes. In contrast, blockade of IL-10 signaling, which broadly augments inflammatory responses to pathogen-derived products, had little effect on aging-related defects in NK cell priming. These data demonstrate that the aged host environment is responsible for aging-related functional NK cell deficiency. Additionally, our data suggest that IL-15 receptor agonists may be useful tools in treating aging-related functional NK cell deficiency.

Priming of Natural Killer Cells by Nonmucosal Mononuclear Phagocytes Requires Instructive Signals from Commensal Microbiota

Mononuclear phagocytes are an important component of an innate immune system perceived asa system ready to react upon encounter of pathogens. Here, we show that in response to microbial stimulation, mononuclear phagocytes residing in nonmucosal lymphoid organs of germ-free mice failed to induce expression of a set of inflammatory response genes, including those encoding the various type I interferons (IFN-I). Consequently, NK cell priming and antiviral immunity were severely compromised. Whereas pattern recognition receptor signaling and nuclear translocation of the transcription factors NF-κB and IRF3 were normal in mononuclear phagocytes of germ-free mice, binding to their respective cytokine promoters was impaired, which correlated with the absence of activating histone marks. Our data reveal a previously unrecognized role for postnatally colonizing microbiota in the introduction of chromatin level changes in the mononuclear phagocyte system, thereby poising expression of central inflammatory genes to initiate a powerful systemic immune response during viral infection.

Complement regulates conventional DC‐mediated NK‐cell activation by inducing TGF‐β1 in Gr‐1+ myeloid cells

Complement activation modulates DC-mediated T-cell activation, but whether complement affects DC-mediated priming of NK cells is unknown. Here, we demonstrated that conventional DCs (cDCs) from C3(-/-) and C5aR(-/-) mice are hyperresponsive to polyI:C, a TLR3 ligand, leading to enhanced NK-cell activation. We found that cDCs lack C5a receptor (C5aR) and do not respond to C5a directly. Depletion of Gr-1(+) myeloid cells augments polyI:C-induced cDC activation in WT but not in C3(-/-) or C5aR(-/-) mice, indicating that the effect of complement activation on cDCs is indirectly mediated through C5aR-expressing Gr-1(+) myeloid cells. We further demonstrated that the mechanism by which Gr-1(+) myeloid cells regulate the activity of cDCs involves C5a-dependent TGF-β1 production in Gr-1(+) myeloid cells. C5a enhances and blocking C5aR decreases TGF-β1 production in cultured bone marrow Gr-1(+) CD11b(+) cells. C5aR deficiency is associated with reduced circulating TGF-β1 levels, while depleting Gr-1(+) myeloid cells abrogates this difference between WT and C5aR(-/-) mice. Lastly, we showed that enhanced cDC-NK-cell activity in C3(-/-) mice led to delayed melanoma tumor growth. Thus, complement activation indirectly regulates cDC-NK-cell activation in response to inflammatory stimuli such as TLR3 by promoting TGF-β1 production in Gr-1(+) myeloid cells at steady state.

Leukemic Priming of Resting NK Cells Is Killer Ig-like Receptor Independent but Requires CD15-Mediated CD2 Ligation and Natural Cytotoxicity Receptors

Resting human NK cells require a two-stage activation process that we have previously described as "priming" and "triggering." NK-sensitive tumor cells provide both priming and triggering signals. NK-resistant tumors evade lysis, mostly by failure to prime; however, we recently reported a tumor cell line (CTV-1) that primes resting NK cells but fails to trigger lysis. In this article, we report two additional leukemia cell lines that prime NK cells but are resistant to lysis. Tumor-mediated NK priming is via CD2 binding to a ligand within CD15 on the tumor cell. NK-resistant RAJI cells became susceptible to NK lysis following transfection and expression of CD15. Blockade of CD15 on K562 cells or on CD15(+) RAJI cells significantly inhibited lysis, as did blockade of CD2 on resting NK cells. NK priming via CD2 induced CD16 shedding, releasing CD3ζ to the CD2, leading to its phosphorylation and the subsequent phosphorylation of linker for activation of T cells and STAT-5 and synthesis of IFN-γ. Blockade of C-type lectin receptors significantly suppressed the tumor-mediated priming of NK cells, whereas blockade of Ig-superfamily-like receptors had no effect at the NK-priming stage. Tumor priming of resting NK cells was irrespective of HLA expression, and blockade of HLA-killer Ig-like receptor interactions did not influence the incidence or degree of priming. However, CD15-CD2 interactions were critical for NK priming and were required, even in the absence of HLA-mediated NK inhibition. Tumor-mediated priming led to a sustained primed state, and the activated NK cells retained the ability to lyse NK-resistant tumors, even after cryopreservation.

Cutting Edge: A Dual Role for Type I IFNs during Polyinosinic-Polycytidylic Acid-Induced NK Cell Activation

NK cells are cytotoxic lymphocytes that are most efficient at fulfilling their functions after a phase of priming provided by cytokines and/or accessory cells. Although type I IFNs are known to be important in this process, it remains unclear whether they act directly on NK cells or indirectly on accessory cells. We used adoptive transfer experiments and mixed bone marrow chimeras to dissect the requirement for type I IFN signaling in response to the dsRNA analog polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid. We demonstrate that optimal NK cell priming requires type I IFNs to signal on both NK cells and accessory cells. In the absence of IL-15, the residual NK cell activation was strictly dependent on cell-intrinsic IFNAR signaling in NK cells. Our results suggest that type I IFNs produced following viral infection simultaneously target accessory cells for IL-15 transpresentation and NK cells themselves and that these two pathways cooperate for NK cell priming.