Obtaining Gene-Modified HLA-E-Expressing Feeder Cells for Stimulation of Natural Killer Cells

• Published in: Pharmaceutics Vol. 16; no. 1; p. 133
• Main Authors: Alekseeva, Nadezhda A, Streltsova, Maria A, Vavilova, Julia D, Ustiuzhanina, Maria O, Palamarchuk, Anastasia I, Boyko, Anna A, Timofeev, Nikita D, Popodko, Alexey I, Kovalenko, Elena I
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01-01-2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Antibiotics; CD57-negative; Cells; Cytokines; Cytotoxicity; Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid; feeder cells; Genotype & phenotype; Health aspects; Histocompatibility antigens; HLA histocompatibility antigens; HLA-E; Immunotherapy; Killer cells; NK cell expansion; NK cells; Peptides; Proteins; Germany; Russia; United States > US; China; NK cell expansion; NK cells; CD57-negative; feeder cells; HLA-E
• ISSN: 1999-4923; 1999-4923
• DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics16010133

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV)-specific adaptive NK cells are capable of recognizing viral peptides presented by HLA-E on infected cells via the NKG2C receptor. Using retroviral transduction, we have generated a K562-cell-based line expressing HLA-E in the presence of the HLA-E-stabilizing peptide, which has previously shown the capacity to enhance adaptive NK cell response. The obtained K562-21E cell line was employed to investigate proliferative responses of the CD57
NK cell subset of HCMV-seropositive and seronegative donors. Stimulation of CD57
NK cells with K562-21E/peptide resulted in an increased cell expansion during the 12-day culturing period, regardless of the serological HCMV status of the donor. The enhanced proliferation in response to the peptide was associated with a greater proportion of CD56
HLA-DR
NK cells. In later stages of cultivation, the greatest proliferative response to K562-21E/peptide was shown for a highly HCMV-seropositive donor. These expanded NK cells were characterized by the accumulation of CD57
KIR2DL2/3
NKG2C
NKG2A
cells, which are hypothesized to represent adaptive NK cell progenitors. The K562-21E feeder cells can be applied both for the accumulation of NK cells as therapeutic effectors, and for the study of NK cell maturation into the adaptive state after the HLA-E peptide presentation.