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：2011
卷号：108
期号：2
页码：728-732
DOI：10.1073/pnas.1012356108
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：The two major functions of human natural killer (NK) cells are conventionally associated with distinct cell subsets. Thus, cytolytic activity is mostly confined to the CD56dimCD16+ subset, whereas cytokine production is generally assigned to CD56brightCD16+/- cells. In this study, we reevaluated the functional capabilities of these NK subsets with regard to the production of IFN-{gamma} at different time points after cell triggering via NKp46 and NKp30 activating receptors. Different from previous studies, cytokine production was also assessed at early intervals. We show that CD56dim NK cells produce IFN-{gamma} already at 2 to 4 h, whereas no cytokine production is detected beyond 16 h. In contrast, CD56bright cells release IFN-{gamma} only at late time intervals (>16 h after stimulation). The rapid IFN-{gamma} production by CD56dim NK cells is in line with the presence of IFN-{gamma} mRNA in freshly isolated cells. Rapid IFN-{gamma} production was also induced by combinations of IL-2, IL-12, and IL-15. Our data indicate that not only cytolytic activity but also early IFN-{gamma} production is a functional property of CD56dim NK cells. Thus, this subset can assure a rapid and comprehensive NK cell intervention during the early phases of innate responses.
