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Brittoli A, Fallarini S, Zhang H, Pieters RJ, Lombardi G. "In vitro" studies on galectin-3 in human natural killer cells. Immunol Lett 2017; 194:4-12. [PMID: 29248489 DOI: 10.1016/j.imlet.2017.12.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2017] [Revised: 10/12/2017] [Accepted: 12/11/2017] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a β-galactoside binding protein able to modulate both innate and adaptive immune responses. First identified in macrophages, Gal-3 has been studied widely in many mammalian immune cells, but scarcely in natural killer (NK) cells. The aim of this study was to analyze Gal-3 in human NK cells, isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Both PCR and RT-PCR analysis showed that resting human NK cells express Gal-3 mRNA, which can be modulated upon cytokine stimulation (100 U/ml IL-2 + 20 ng/ml IL-15) for different period of time (1-24 h). Western blot, cytofluorimetry, and confocal microscopy analysis clearly demonstrated that the Gal-3 gene can translate into the corresponding protein. From our results, resting NK cells, isolated from different healthy donors, can express high or low basal levels of Gal-3. In NK cells, Gal-3 was always intracellularly detected at both cytoplasm and nucleus levels, while never at the membrane surface, and its localization resulted independent from the cellular activation status. In addition, the intracellular Gal-3 can co-localize with perforin in exocytic vesicles. Cell treatment with a thiodigalactoside-based Gal-3 inhibitor (1-30 μM) slightly increased the number of degranulating NK cells, while it significantly increased the percentage of cells releasing high amounts of cytotoxic granules (+ 36 ± 3% vs. inhibitor-untreated cells at 30 μM Gal-3). In conclusion, our results demonstrate that human resting NK cells express Gal-3 at both gene and protein levels and that the Gal-3 expression can be modulated upon cytokine stimulation. In the same cells, Gal-3 always localizes intracellularly and functionally correlates with the degree of NK cell degranulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alvaro Brittoli
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of "Piemonte Orientale, A. Avogadro", Largo Donegani 2, 28100 Novara, Italy.
| | - Silvia Fallarini
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of "Piemonte Orientale, A. Avogadro", Largo Donegani 2, 28100 Novara, Italy.
| | - Hao Zhang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Utrecht University, 3508 TB Utrecht, Netherlands.
| | - Roland J Pieters
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Utrecht University, 3508 TB Utrecht, Netherlands.
| | - Grazia Lombardi
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of "Piemonte Orientale, A. Avogadro", Largo Donegani 2, 28100 Novara, Italy.
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Yun S, Lee SU, Kim JM, Lee HJ, Song HY, Kim YK, Jung H, Park YJ, Yoon SR, Oh SR, Kim TD, Choi I. Integrated mRNA-microRNA profiling of human NK cell differentiation identifies MiR-583 as a negative regulator of IL2Rγ expression. PLoS One 2014; 9:e108913. [PMID: 25313504 PMCID: PMC4196775 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0108913] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2014] [Accepted: 08/26/2014] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Natural killer (NK) cells are innate immune effector cells that protect against cancer and some viral infections. Until recently, most studies have investigated the molecular signatures of human or mouse NK cells to identify genes that are specifically expressed during NK cell development. However, the mechanism regulating NK cell development remains unclear. Here, we report a regulatory network of potential interactions during in vitro differentiation of human NK cells, identified using genome-wide mRNA and miRNA databases through hierarchical clustering analysis, gene ontology analysis and a miRNA target prediction program. The microRNA (miR)-583, which demonstrated the largest ratio change in mature NK cells, was highly correlated with IL2 receptor gamma (IL2Rγ) expression. The overexpression of miR-583 had an inhibitory effect on NK cell differentiation. In a reporter assay, the suppressive effect of miR-583 was ablated by mutating the putative miR-583 binding site of the IL2Rγ 3′ UTR. Therefore, we show that miR-583 acts as a negative regulator of NK cell differentiation by silencing IL2Rγ. Additionally, we provide a comprehensive database of genome-wide mRNA and miRNA expression during human NK cell differentiation, offering a better understanding of basic human NK cell biology for the application of human NK cells in immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sohyun Yun
- Immunotherapy Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Su Ui Lee
- Natural Medicine Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Ochang-eup, Republic of Korea
| | - Jung Min Kim
- NAR Center, Inc., Daejeon Oriental Hospital of Daejeon University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyun-Jun Lee
- Natural Medicine Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Ochang-eup, Republic of Korea
| | - Hae Young Song
- Immunotherapy Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Young Kyeung Kim
- Immunotherapy Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Haiyoung Jung
- Immunotherapy Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Young-Jun Park
- Immunotherapy Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Suk Ran Yoon
- Immunotherapy Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Sei-Ryang Oh
- Natural Medicine Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Ochang-eup, Republic of Korea
| | - Tae-Don Kim
- Immunotherapy Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
- Department of Functional Genomics, Korea University of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
- * E-mail: (TDK); (IC)
| | - Inpyo Choi
- Immunotherapy Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
- Department of Functional Genomics, Korea University of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
- * E-mail: (TDK); (IC)
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Abstract
Perforin (Prf1) and granzyme B (GzmB) are essential effector molecules for natural killer (NK)-cell cytotoxicity, but how Prf1 and GzmB expression is regulated during arming of NK cells is poorly defined. We show that human microRNA (miR)-27a* is a negative regulator of NK-cell cytotoxicity by silencing Prf1 and GzmB expression. Human miR-27a* specifically bound to the 3' untranslated regions of Prf1 and GzmB, down-regulating expression in both resting and activated NK cells, and it functioned as a fine-tuner for homeostasis of the net amount of the effector proteins. Consistent with miR-27a* having an inhibitory role, knockdown of miR-27a* in NK cells dramatically increased cytotoxicity in vitro and decreased tumor growth in a human tumor xenograft model. Thus, NK-cell cytotoxicity is regulated, in part, by microRNA, and modulating endogenous miR-27a* levels in NK cells represents a potential immunotherapeutic strategy.
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