期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：2016
卷号：113
期号：36
页码：10139-10144
DOI：10.1073/pnas.1600112113
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：Natural killer (NK) cells are known to be activated by Th1-type cytokines, such as IL-2, -12, or -18, and they secrete a large amount of IFN-γ that accelerates Th1-type responses. However, the roles of NK cells in Th2-type responses have remained unclear. Because IL-4 acts as an initiator of Th2-type responses, we examined the characteristics of NK cells in mice overexpressing IL-4. In this study, we report that IL-4 overexpression induces distinctive characteristics of NK cells (B220high/CD11blow/IL-18Rαlow), which are different from mature conventional NK (cNK) cells (B220low/CD11bhigh/IL-18Rαhigh). IL-4 overexpression induces proliferation of tissue-resident macrophages, which contributes to NK cell proliferation via production of IL-15. These IL-4–induced NK cells (IL4-NK cells) produce higher levels of IFN-γ, IL-10, and GM-CSF, and exhibit high cytotoxicity compared with cNK cells. Furthermore, incubation of cNK cells with IL-15 and IL-4 alters their phenotype to that similar to IL4-NK cells. Finally, parasitic infection, which typically causes strong Th2-type responses, induces the development of NK cells with characteristics similar to IL4-NK cells. These IL4-NK–like cells do not develop in IL-4Rα KO mice by parasitic infection. Collectively, these results suggest a novel role of IL-4 in immune responses through the induction of the unique NK cells.
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