摘要
Expansion and activation of cord blood (CB) natural killer (NK) cells by cytokines might greatly benefit patients undergoing stem cell transplantation by increasing resistance against viral infections and providing graft-vs.-leukemia (GVL) effects through enhanced cytolytic abilities. We tested the ability of a recently cloned stem cell factor, Flt3-ligand (Flt3L), in combination with interleukin-15 (IL-15), to stimulate CB mononuclear cells (MNCs) to proliferate and differentiate into NK cells, in comparison with adult peripheral blood (APB) MNCs. Unstimulated CB MNCs had low NK and lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) activity compared with APB MNCs. A similar dose-dependent increase in NK and LAK activity and CD16/56 expression was found with IL-15 in CB and APB MNCs after 10 days of culture. The NK cytotoxicity (against K562 cells) of IL-15-treated CB MNCs was lower than that of corresponding APB MNCs, while IL-15-induced LAK activity (against Daudi cells) of CB MNCs was comparable to that of corresponding APB MNCs. IL-15 resulted in greater CD16/56 expression in CB MNCs compared with APB MNCs after 10 days of culture. Flt3L, alone or in combination with IL-15, had little effect on CD16/56 expression and cytotoxicity. Cytotoxic activities and CD16/56 expression did not alter after CD34 depletion of CB MNCs. We therefore concluded that CB NK cells could be greatly activated and expanded with IL-15, but not with Flt3L. The greater expression of CD16/56 induced by IL-15 in CB MNCs may originate from non-CD34+ NK progenitor cells.
原文 | 英語 |
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頁(從 - 到) | 168-174 |
頁數 | 7 |
期刊 | Pediatric Allergy and Immunology |
卷 | 11 |
發行號 | 3 |
出版狀態 | 已出版 - 2000 |