Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Rölle, Alexander
• Pollmann, Julia
• Ewen, Eva-Maria
• Le, Vu Thuy Khanh
• Halenius, Anne
• Hengel, Hartmut
• Cerwenka, Adelheid

Titel

IL-12-producing monocytes and HLA-E control HCMV-driven NKG2C+ NK cell expansion

Ist Teil von

• The Journal of clinical investigation, 2014-12, Vol.124 (12), p.5305-5316

Ort / Verlag

United States: American Society for Clinical Investigation

Erscheinungsjahr

2014

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection is the most common cause of congenital viral infections and a major source of morbidity and mortality after organ transplantation. NK cells are pivotal effector cells in the innate defense against CMV. Recently, hallmarks of adaptive responses, such as memory-like features, have been recognized in NK cells. HCMV infection elicits the expansion of an NK cell subset carrying an activating receptor heterodimer, comprising CD94 and NKG2C (CD94/NKG2C), a response that resembles the clonal expansion of adaptive immune cells. Here, we determined that expansion of this NKG2C(+) subset and general NK cell recovery rely on signals derived from CD14(+) monocytes. In a coculture system, a subset of CD14(+) cells with inflammatory monocyte features produced IL-12 in response to HCMV-infected fibroblasts, and neutralization of IL-12 in this model substantially reduced CD25 upregulation and NKG2C(+) subset expansion. Finally, blockade of CD94/NKG2C on NK cells or silencing of the cognate ligand HLA-E in infected fibroblasts greatly impaired expansion of NKG2C(+) NK cells. Together, our results reveal that IL-12, CD14(+) cells, and the CD94/NKG2C/HLA-E axis are critical for the expansion of NKG2C(+) NK cells in response to HCMV infection. Moreover, strategies targeting the NKG2C(+) NK cell subset have the potential to be exploited in NK cell-based intervention strategies against viral infections and cancer.