| Author |
Wedemeyer, Heiner Ljunggren, Hans-Gustaf Michaëlsson, Jakob Kekäläinen, Eliisa Johansson, Helene Lankisch, Tim O. Marquardt, Nicole Björkström, Niklas K. Mjösberg, Jenny Westgren, Magnus Hengst, Julia Nyström, Sanna Ellis, Ewa C. Ivarsson, Martin A. Béziat, Vivien |
| Description |
Author Affiliation: Marquardt N ( Center for Infectious Medicine, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, 141 86 Stockholm, Sweden); Béziat V ( Center for Infectious Medicine, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, 141 86 Stockholm, Sweden); Nyström S ( Center for Infectious Medicine, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, 141 86 Stockholm, Sweden); Hengst J ( Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany); Ivarsson MA ( Center for Infectious Medicine, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, 141 86 Stockholm, Sweden); Kekäläinen E ( Center for Infectious Medicine, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, 141 86 Stockholm, Sweden); Johansson H ( Division of Transplantation Surgery, Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, 141 86 Stockholm, Sweden); Mjösberg J ( Center for Infectious Medicine, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, 141 86 Stockholm, Sweden); Westgren M ( Center for Fetal Medicine, Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, 141 86 Stockholm, Sweden.); Lankisch TO ( Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany); Wedemeyer H ( Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany); Ellis EC ( Division of Transplantation Surgery, Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, 141 86 Stockholm, Sweden); Ljunggren HG ( Center for Infectious Medicine, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, 141 86 Stockholm, Sweden); Michaëlsson J ( Center for Infectious Medicine, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, 141 86 Stockholm, Sweden); Björkström NK ( Center for Infectious Medicine, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, 141 86 Stockholm, Sweden) |
| Abstract |
Although NK cells are considered innate, recent studies in mice revealed the existence of a unique lineage of hepatic CD49a(+)DX5(-) NK cells with adaptive-like features. Development of this NK cell lineage is, in contrast to conventional NK cells, dependent on T-bet but not Eomes. In this study, we describe the identification of a T-bet(+)Eomes(-)CD49a(+) NK cell subset readily detectable in the human liver, but not in afferent or efferent hepatic venous or peripheral blood. Human intrahepatic CD49a(+) NK cells express killer cell Ig-like receptor and NKG2C, indicative of having undergone clonal-like expansion, are CD56(bright), and express low levels of CD16, CD57, and perforin. After stimulation, CD49a(+) NK cells express high levels of inflammatory cytokines but degranulate poorly. CD49a(+) NK cells retain their phenotype after expansion in long-term in vitro cultures. These results demonstrate the presence of a likely human counterpart of mouse intrahepatic NK cells with adaptive-like features. |
