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*
Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115; and
Department of Medicine, Division of Immunology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02115
| Abstract |
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but displayed
markedly reduced or absent Ag-specific IgG2a production. There were no
differences in the levels of Ag-specific IgG, IgG1, and IgG2b between
NK-T+ and NK+T+ mice.
Furthermore, NK cell-reconstituted, NK+T+
(tg
26Y) mice produced significant amounts of Ag-specific IgG2a after
immunization with OVA. These results indicate that NK cells are
involved in the induction of Ag-specific IgG2a production in vivo.
Moreover, they also demonstrate that the lack of Ag-specific IgG2a Ab
production in NK-T+ mice is not associated
with the impaired Th1 response and IFN-
production. | Introduction |
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-. NK cells play an important role
in innate immunity against bacterial, parasitic, and viral infections
(1). NK cells also exhibit cytotoxicity against tumor
cells and neoplasms (1). In addition, NK cells have been
shown to regulate hemopoiesis, B cell differentiation, and Ab
production (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13).
Although some studies have reported that NK cells inhibit B cell
differentiation and suppress Ab production (10, 11, 12, 13),
others have demonstrated that NK cells promote B cell growth and
increase IgM and IgG Ab production by activated as well as resting B
cells (8, 14, 15, 16). The role of NK cells in the modulation
of B cell response and Ab production has been attributed to their
ability to directly interact with B cells and/or produce cytokines that
regulate B cell differentiation and isotype switching
(15). In fact, NK cell-derived IFN-
has been shown to
induce IgG2a class switching in LPS-activated B cells
(15). Although, a majority of these studies demonstrate
that NK cells can regulate T cell-independent Ab production from B
cells in vitro, it is not clear whether NK cells play a similar role in
the regulation of T cell-dependent as well as T cell-independent Ab
responses in vivo. T cell-independent Ags such as bacterial
polysaccharides cross-link B cell surface Ag receptors and directly
activate B cells to produce Abs, whereas the development of Ab
responses to T cell-dependent Ags requires help from
CD4+ T cells (16).
Previous studies have demonstrated that NK cell depletion using
anti-NK1.1 Ab fails to influence initial CD4+
T cell commitment, cytokine production (17), or Ab
responses in vivo to T cell-dependent and T cell-independent Ags
(17, 18). In contrast, the activation of NK cells by
poly(I:C) administration increased the levels of both Ag-specific IgG1
and IgG2a isotypes (15). Furthermore, depletion of NK
cells using anti-NK1.1 Abs before poly(I:C)-induced
activation blocked their ability to enhance IgG2a but not IgG1
production (15). In addition, two independent studies have
demonstrated that activated NK cells selectively up-regulate IgG2a
production (9, 18). Collectively, these results indicate
that activated NK cells, but not endogenous NK cells, play a critical
role in the regulation of IgG2a production. Therefore, we analyzed
Ag-specific Ab responses and the development of a Th1 response in NK
cell-deficient mice immunized with the T cell-dependent Ags OVA or
keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) in CFA. Our results indicate that
endogenous NK cells are involved in the induction of CFA-induced,
Ag-specific IgG2a production in vivo, and this regulation appears to be
independent of IFN-
.
| Materials and Methods |
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Tg
26 mice were maintained through sibling breeding in the
animal facility of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Mice
lacking NK cells (NK-T+)
were generated by transplanting fetal liver or BM cells from
(C57BL/6 x CBA/J)F1 mice into neonatal
tg
26 mice as described recently by us (19). Age- and
sex-matched wild-type (wt) CBA/J (H-2k) and
C57BL/6 (H-2b) mice were used. The (C57BL/6
x CBA/J)F1 (H-2b/k) mice
generated by the breeding of C57BL/6 x CBA/J mice were used
as the wt (NK+T+)
mice. In addition, we also used
NK+T+ (FLwt>tg
26W3)
mice that were generated by transplanting wt fetal liver cells into 2-
to 3-wk-old tg
26 mice as described recently (19).
NK+T+ (FLwt>tg
26W3)
mice were phenotypically and functionally identical with the wt
(NK+T+) mice and were
referred as NK+T+
(tg
26Y). Of note, all of the
NK-T+ mice used in this
study were analyzed by flow cytometry of PBLs before immunization;
lymph node and spleen cells were analyzed by flow cytometry after the
animals had been sacrificed to confirm the lack of or markedly
diminished NK cells and the presence of T cells.
Immunization protocol
OVA (grade V, Sigma, St. Louis, MO) or KLH (Sigma) was emulsified in CFA (Life Technologies, Rockville, MD) by repeated passage through a double-hubbed emulsifying needle until a stable emulsion was formed. Groups of four to five mice were immunized s.c. into shaven back rumps with 0.1 ml of OVA (200 µg) or KLH (200 µg) in PBS, emulsified in CFA. Mice were boosted 2 wk later using OVA (200 µg) or KLH (200 µg) in PBS, emulsified in IFA.
Ab ELISA
Peripheral blood was collected from tail snips of all experimental animals 2 wk after boosting with OVA or KLH in IFA. Blood was centrifuged at 200 x g and serum was collected to determine the titers of Th1-associated IgG2a as well as Th2-associated IgG1 and IgG2b Ag-specific Abs by ELISA as described previously (20).
T cell proliferation and cytokine assays
Spleens were removed from the OVA- or KLH-immunized mice 2 wk
after boosting, and T cell proliferation assays were performed as
described previously (20). Briefly, single-cell
suspensions were prepared by gentle teasing in complete RPMI 1640
medium. The cells were centrifuged at 200 x g for 5
min, and erythrocytes were lysed by resuspending cells in Boyles
solution (0.17 M Tris and 0.16 M ammonium chloride). A total of 5
x 105 spleen cells were added in triplicate to
the wells of 96-well, flat-bottom tissue culture plates and stimulated
with either 20 µg/ml or 1 µg/ml of Con A. Culture supernatants from
these assays were analyzed for the production of IL-4 (reagents from
Endogen, Cambridge, MA; detection limit of 5 pg/ml) and IFN-
(reagents from PharMingen, San Diego, CA; detection limit of 20 pg/ml)
by capture ELISA as described previously (20).
Statistical analyses
Students unpaired t test was used to determine the significance of the values obtained. Differences in Ab endpoint titers were determined using the Mann-Whitney U prime test.
| Results and Discussion |
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A number of investigators have studied the role of NK
cells in the regulation of Ig production in vitro and in vivo
(7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 21, 22). Although some earlier studies indicated
that NK cells can suppress Ig secretion (5, 12, 13),
others reported that NK cells can enhance Ig secretion in vitro and in
vivo (7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 22). These conflicting observations
may be attributed to several factors, such as the type of Ag (T
cell-independent vs T cell-dependent) and the depletion of NK cells
using ASGM1 Abs, which can bind the surface Ag expressed on activated
macrophages and T cells (23). Nevertheless, two
independent studies in which more specific anti-NK1.1 Ab was used
to deplete NK cells found that NK cell depletion failed to modulate in
vivo Ab responses against T cell-independent as well as T
cell-dependent Ags (15, 17). Similarly, we found that the
administration of NK cell-depleting anti-ASGM1 Abs to
NK+T+ mice before
immunization with OVA in CFA had a minor effect on IFN-
production
and the OVA-specific IgG2a response (data not shown). The marginally
reduced levels of OVA-specific IgG2a observed in some NK-depleted mice
correlated with decreased NK activity as assessed by the YAC-1 cell
lysis assay (data not shown). Moreover, we found that the degree of NK
cell depletion using anti-ASGM1 antiserum varies from mouse to
mouse and depends upon the day of assay (data not shown). In contrast,
poly(I:C)-activated NK cells increased Ag-specific IgG1 and IgG2a
levels (15). Furthermore, NK cell depletion by
anti-NK1.1 treatment before poly(I:C)-induced activation blocked
the enhancement of IgG2a but not IgG1 Ab production (15).
These results indicated that although resting, endogenous NK cells do
not modulate an in vivo Ab response, poly(I:C)-activated NK cells
increase primary Ag-specific IgG1 and IgG2a production and play a
critical role in the enhancement of an IgG2a response.
The depletion of NK cells using Abs is efficient but transient, as NK
cells can be generated from progenitors within a few days. In addition,
NK cell-depleting Abs can also deplete subpopulations of T cells and
macrophages that also express the same surface Ag (23, 24). The administration of large quantities of anti-NK1.1 or
anti-ASGM1 Abs can elicit an immune response to injected Ab in the
host. Using a novel model of specific murine NK cell deficiency, we
have excluded these possibilities (19).
NK-T+ mice are truly
deficient in NK cell lytic function as determined by the lack
cytotoxicity against lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus and YAC-1 cells
(19). Furthermore,
NK-T+ mice have
functionally normal CD4+ and
CD8+ T cells as assessed by mixed lymphocyte
reaction and CTL assays, respectively. CFA has been shown to induce a
Th1-like response and Ag-specific IgG1 and IgG2a production
(25); therefore, we used CFA as an adjuvant to immunize
NK-T+ mice and induce
production of IgG2a. After immunization and boosting with OVA or KLH in
CFA/IFA, NK+T+ mice
displayed significant titers of Ag-specific IgG1 and IgG2a Abs (Figs. 1
, 2, and
3). Moreover,
NK+T+ mice also produced
significant levels of Ag-specific IgG1 and IgG2a Abs after immunization
with the Ag in CFA, but before boosting. Interestingly, similarly
immunized NK-T+ mice also
displayed significant titers of Ag-specific IgG1, but had no detectable
levels or markedly reduced levels of Ag-specific IgG2a before as well
as after boosting with Ag (
Figs. 13![]()
![]()
). There were no significant
differences in the levels of Ig and Ag-specific IgG2b between the
groups (data not shown). Taken together, these results indicate that
NK1.1+ TCR
ß- cells
play a role in the induction rather than in the maintenance of
CFA-induced, Ag-specific IgG2a responses in vivo. These observations
are consistent with our recent study that demonstrated that
Leishmania Ag-specific IgG2a production is significantly
impaired in L. major-infected
NK-T+ mice
(19). The ability of NK cells to preferentially enhance
IgG2a production may explain the high titers of virus-specific IgG2a
that are observed during viral infections (26). In
addition, IgG2a mediates Ab-mediated cytotoxicity (27) and
may contribute to the development of protective immunity against
virus.
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production
Several studies have indicated that the Th1-associated cytokine
IFN-
enhances IgG2a production (28, 29, 30). As
NK1.1+ TCR
ß- cells
are a major source of IFN-
during the early immune response required
for the subsequent development of IFN-
producing the
CD4+ Th1 subset, we compared the IFN-
production by Ag-stimulated spleen cells from
NK-T+ mice with that from
NK-T- and
NK+T+ mice. After
stimulation with OVA or KLH, spleen cells from immunized
NK+T+ and
NK-T+ mice displayed
significantly more proliferative responses than did the cells
NK-T- mice. Furthermore,
Ag-stimulated splenocytes from both
NK+T+ and
NK-T+ mice produced
significant and comparable levels of IFN-
(Fig. 4
, A and C). These
results indicate that the lack of IgG2a production in
NK-T+ mice is not due to
the impairment of IFN-
production. Furthermore, there was no
difference in the levels of IL-4 between the groups (Fig. 4
, B and D).
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production by NK cells, specifically enhanced a
trinitrophenyl-specific IgG2a response in
CD3
-/- mice, which lack functional TCR
ß
T cells (9). Moreover, this enhancement of the IgG2a
response was IL-12-dependent and was believed to be mediated by NK
cell-derived IFN-
(9). In addition to its ability to
induce IFN-
from NK cells, IL-12 has also been shown to enhance Ab
synthesis and IgG2a production to T cell-independent Ags in tg
26
(NK-T-) mice, which lack
NK and T cells but still have B cells (31). Nevertheless,
we recently demonstrated that despite IL-12 production and Th1
development, NK-T+ mice
infected with L. major failed to produce
Leishmania-specific IgG2a (19), indicating that
the lack of IL-12 production is an unlikely mechanism responsible for
the impairment of IgG2a production in
NK-T+ mice. Reconstitution of the NK cell compartment restores the CFA-induced Ag-specific IgG2a response
We recently found that tg
26 mice reconstituted with
(C57BL/6 x CBA/J)F1 (H-2b/k) BM or
fetal liver cells at 23 wk of age
(NK+T+ (tg
26Y)) (instead
of neonatally as in the generation of
NK-T+ mice) resulted in
functionally competent NK and T cells that were comparable with those
in wt (F1) mice (19). Furthermore,
these NK+T+ (tg
26Y) mice
have a background that is identical with
NK-T+ mice. Therefore, we
determined whether CFA could induce an Ag-specific IgG2a response in
these immunocompetent mice. Unlike
NK-T+ mice,
NK+T+ (tg
26Y) mice
immunized with CFA in OVA produced significant levels of OVA-specific
IgG2a (Fig. 5
).
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production. These results indicate that
although NK cells are not involved in the modulation of the Ig
response, they play an important role in the selective induction of the
CFA-induced IgG2a response to T cell-dependent Ags.
| Footnotes |
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2 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Abhay R. Satoskar, Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115. E-mail address: ![]()
3 Abbreviations used in this paper: BM, bone marrow; ASGM1, asialo GM1; KLH, keyhole limpet hemocyanin; wt, wild type. ![]()
Received for publication August 24, 1999. Accepted for publication September 3, 1999.
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