Open AccessProliferative capacity exhibited by human liver-resident CD49a+CD25+ NK cells
Author(s) -
Glòria Martrus,
Tobias Kautz,
Sebastian Lunemann,
Laura Richert,
Laura Glau,
Wilhelm Salzberger,
Hanna Goebels,
Annika E. Langeneckert,
Leonard U. Hess,
T Poch,
Christoph Schramm,
Karl J. Oldhafer,
Martina Koch,
Eva Tolosa,
Björn Nashan,
Marcus Altfeld
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0182532
Subject(s) - cirrhosis , flow cytometry , cxcr3 , il 2 receptor , biology , context (archaeology) , peripheral blood mononuclear cell , liver transplantation , immunology , pathology , medicine , inflammation , in vitro , transplantation , t cell , immune system , paleontology , biochemistry , chemokine , chemokine receptor
The recruitment and retention of Natural Killer (NK) cells in the liver are thought to play an important role during hepatotropic infections and liver cirrhosis. The aims of this study were to determine differences between liver-derived and peripheral blood-derived NK cells in the context of liver inflammation and cirrhosis. We conducted a prospective dual-center cross-sectional study in patients undergoing liver transplantation or tumor-free liver resections, in which both liver tissue and peripheral blood samples were obtained from each consenting study participants. Intrahepatic lymphocytes and PBMCs were stained, fixed and analyzed by flow cytometry. Our results showed that, within cirrhotic liver samples, intrahepatic NK cells were particularly enriched for CD49a+ NK cells when compared to tumor-free liver resection samples. CD49a+ liver-derived NK cells included populations of cells expressing CD25, CD34 and CXCR3. Moreover, CD49a+CD25+ liver-derived NK cells exhibited high proliferative capacity in vitro in response to low doses of IL-2. Our study identified a specific subset of CD49a+CD25+ NK cells in cirrhotic livers bearing functional features of proliferation.