Project description:Ex vivo activation and expansion of natural killer (NK) cells is a strategy to produce sufficient numbers of these effector cells for adoptive immunotherapy. Therefore we aimed at the development of an automated, clinical scale NK cell expansion process and compared NK cells after manual and automated expansion.We found only a small subset of 124 genes that significantly varied between both sample groups. These genes were associated with movement of leukocytes were identified including a group of genes for NK cell movement (CMKLR1, CX3CR1, S1PR5, GNLY and CXCR1) which were slightly higher expressed after automated compared to manual expansion. Nevertheless, the expansion profiles of NK cells after automated or manual expansion were rather similar in comparison to the remarkable difference between primary and expanded NK cells in general represented by the vast majority of regulated genes between the analyzed sample groups. Pathway analysis revealed that most of regulated genes upon expansion were associated with cell cycle regulation, DNA replication, DNA recombination and DNA repair, regulation of apoptosis and cell survival as well as cytokine signaling. Furthermore, the expression of many NK cell relevant markers was changed upon expansion with the strongest effects on up regulation of TRAIL and FASL, inhibitory TIGIT and chemokine receptors CCR2, CCR5 and CXCR6. In addition, granzyme M was down regulated but other important effector molecules like TNFa, perforin and granzymes A, B and K were up regulated. In summary we could show that manual and automatically expanded NK cells show a similar expansion profile while the differ significantly from primary NK cells. Up regulation of many NK cell relevant markers indicate for an enhanced NK cell functionaility after ex vivo activation and expansion.
Project description:Ex vivo activation and expansion of natural killer (NK) cells is a strategy to produce sufficient numbers of these effector cells for adoptive immunotherapy. Therefore we aimed at the development of an automated, clinical scale NK cell expansion process and compared NK cells after manual and automated expansion.We found only a small subset of 124 genes that significantly varied between both sample groups. These genes were associated with movement of leukocytes were identified including a group of genes for NK cell movement (CMKLR1, CX3CR1, S1PR5, GNLY and CXCR1) which were slightly higher expressed after automated compared to manual expansion. Nevertheless, the expansion profiles of NK cells after automated or manual expansion were rather similar in comparison to the remarkable difference between primary and expanded NK cells in general represented by the vast majority of regulated genes between the analyzed sample groups. Pathway analysis revealed that most of regulated genes upon expansion were associated with cell cycle regulation, DNA replication, DNA recombination and DNA repair, regulation of apoptosis and cell survival as well as cytokine signaling. Furthermore, the expression of many NK cell relevant markers was changed upon expansion with the strongest effects on up regulation of TRAIL and FASL, inhibitory TIGIT and chemokine receptors CCR2, CCR5 and CXCR6. In addition, granzyme M was down regulated but other important effector molecules like TNFa, perforin and granzymes A, B and K were up regulated. In summary we could show that manual and automatically expanded NK cells show a similar expansion profile while the differ significantly from primary NK cells. Up regulation of many NK cell relevant markers indicate for an enhanced NK cell functionaility after ex vivo activation and expansion. 24 samples were analyzed in total. 6 biological replicates represented by cells from different donors. 4 different samples per donor: freshly isolated NK cells (d0) and NK cells expanded for 14 days under 3 different conditions: in co-culture with EBV-LCL feeder cells and 500 U/mL IL2 either cultivated manually in T75 flasks (T) or automatically using the CliniMACS Prodigy system (P); NK cells cultured with 500 U/ml IL2 without feeder cells (I)
Project description:Natural Killer cells (NK), a major constituent of innate immune system, have the ability to kill the transformed and infected cells without prior sensitization; can be put to immunotherapeutic use against various malignancies. NK cells discriminate between normal cells and transformed cells via a balance of inhibitory and activating signals induced by interactions between NK cell receptors and target cell ligands. Present study investigates whether expansion of NK cells could augment their anti-myeloma (MM) activity. For NK cell expansion, peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy donors and myeloma patients were co-cultured with irradiated K562 cells transfected with 4-1BBL and membrane-bound IL15 (K562-mb15-41BBL). A genome-wide profiling approach was performed to identify gene expression signature in expanded NK (ENK) cells and non-expanded NK cells isolated from healthy donors and myeloma patients. A specific set of genes involved in proliferation, migration, adhesion, cytotoxicity, and activation were up regulated post expansion, also confirmed by flow cytometry. Exp-NK cells killed both allogeneic and autologous primary MM cells more avidly than non-exp-NK cells in vitro. Multiple receptors, particularly NKG2D, natural cytotoxicity receptors, and DNAM-1 contributed to target lysis, via a perforin mediated mechanism. In summary, vigorous expansion and high anti-MM activity both in vitro and in vivo provide the rationale for testing exp-NK cells in a clinical trial for high risk MM. Differential gene expression profile in expanded natural killer (ENK) cells and non-expanded natural killer (NK) cells from healthy donors and myeloma patients Eight healthy donor and eight myeloma patients were used in the study. Non-expanded natural killer (NK) cells were isolated from PBMCs of healthy donors and myeloma patients. Expanded natural killer (ENK) cells were generated from same set of samples as mentioned in expansion protocol. All ENK and NK cells were used for gene expression profiling.
Project description:Natural killer (NK) cells are innate lymphocytes that possess features of adaptive immunity such as clonal expansion and generation of long-lived memory. Here we look at transcriptional profiles of NK cells throughout several time points during MCMV infection, ex-vivo cytokine stimulation, and/or deficiency of key transcription factors such as STAT4, STAT1, and Runx1. In addition, we profile parallel time points of MCMV-specific CD8 T cells during infection and memory formation.
Project description:Natural Killer cells (NK), a major constituent of innate immune system, have the ability to kill the transformed and infected cells without prior sensitization; can be put to immunotherapeutic use against various malignancies. NK cells discriminate between normal cells and transformed cells via a balance of inhibitory and activating signals induced by interactions between NK cell receptors and target cell ligands. Present study investigates whether expansion of NK cells could augment their anti-myeloma (MM) activity. For NK cell expansion, peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy donors and myeloma patients were co-cultured with irradiated K562 cells transfected with 4-1BBL and membrane-bound IL15 (K562-mb15-41BBL). A genome-wide profiling approach was performed to identify gene expression signature in expanded NK (ENK) cells and non-expanded NK cells isolated from healthy donors and myeloma patients. A specific set of genes involved in proliferation, migration, adhesion, cytotoxicity, and activation were up regulated post expansion, also confirmed by flow cytometry. Exp-NK cells killed both allogeneic and autologous primary MM cells more avidly than non-exp-NK cells in vitro. Multiple receptors, particularly NKG2D, natural cytotoxicity receptors, and DNAM-1 contributed to target lysis, via a perforin mediated mechanism. In summary, vigorous expansion and high anti-MM activity both in vitro and in vivo provide the rationale for testing exp-NK cells in a clinical trial for high risk MM. Differential gene expression profile in expanded natural killer (ENK) cells and non-expanded natural killer (NK) cells from healthy donors and myeloma patients
Project description:Large granular lymphocyte leukemia (LGLL) is a rare lymphoproliferative malignancy caused by clonal expansion of granular lymphocytes. Two subgroups, (cytotoxic) T-cell LGLL and natural killer (NK) cell LGLL, are defined based on their cellular origin and expression of characteristic surface molecules. In this study, we performed a comparative proteome profiling of isolated extracellular vesicles (EV) from the T-LGLL cell line MOTN-1 and the NK-LGLL line NKL.
Project description:We analyzed the natural killer (NK) cell receptor genes as in vivo genetic model to study random monoallelic gene expression (RME). These genes are expressed randomly, and largely monoallelically, in subsets of NK cells to generate a repertoire of specificities. We found that enhancers directly controlled the probability of expression of both RME and related, broadly expressed genes. We present an analysis of the accessibility (ATAC-seq) and both active and repressive histone modifications of elements associated with both expressed and silent alleles of the NK receptor genes in primary cells. The goals of this study were to assess the chromatin state of the silent and active alleles of the monoallelically expressed natural killer (NK) cell receptor genes.
Project description:Diverse populations of natural killer cells, which exert critical early cytolytic functions against virally infected cells, have recently been uncovered, raising issues of lineage relationships. We used expression of the transcription factor PLZF to identify the developmental intermediates of ILC1s, a subset of natural killer-like cells that are particularly abundant in the liver, and demonstrated a distinct precursor but parallel development and partial overlap with established classical NK stages. Using microarray analysis, we defined a set of PLZF-dependent genes that contributed to the lineage divergence between ILC1s and classical NK cells. Liver lymphocytes from pools of PLZF+/+ or PLZF-/- mice were sorted into ILC1s and cNKs for RNA isolation and Illumina expression profiling.
Project description:NK cells are part of the innate immune system and therefore directly involved in the response to a Candida albicans infection. Our aim is to better understand the interaction of NK cells and C.albicans cells. Natural Killer cells (NK cells) were isolated from blood of 3 different donors and coincubated with Candida albicans. Transcriptome analysis was performed after 3 and 6 hours using an Illumina HumanHT-12 v4 Expression BeadChip.
Project description:The transcription factor B Cell CLL/Lymphoma 11B (BCL11B) is indispensable for T lineage development of lymphoid progenitors. Here we show that chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) expression early in ex vivo generated lymphoid progenitors suppresses Bcl11b, leading to suppression of T cell-associated gene expression and acquisition of natural killer (NK) cell-like properties. These results give important insights into differentiation of murine and human lymphoid progenitors driven by synthetic CAR transgene-expression and inform the potential use of ex vivo generated CARiK cells as a broadly applicable product for targeted immunotherapy.