Regulation of development of CD56brightCD11c+ NK-Like cells with helper function by IL-18

Abstract

Human γδ T cells augment host defense against tumors and infections, and might have a therapeutic potential in immunotherapy. However, mechanism of γδ T cell proliferation is unclear, and therefore it is difficult to prepare sufficient numbers of γδ T cells for clinical immunotherapy. Recently, natural killer (NK)-like CD56 brightCD11c+ cells were shown to promote the proliferation of γδ T cells in an IL-18-dependent manner. In this study, we demonstrated that the NK-like CD56brightCD11c+ cells could directly interact with γδ T cells to promote their sustained expansion, while conventional dendritic cells (DCs), IFN-α-induced DCs, plasmacytoid DCs or monocytes did not. We also examined the cellular mechanism underlying the regulation of CD56brightCD11c+ cells. CD14+ monocytes pre-incubated with IL-2/IL-18 formed intensive interactions with CD56intCD11c+ cells to promote their differentiation to CD56brightCD11c+ cells with helper function. The development of CD56brightCD11c+ cells was suppressed in an IFN-α dependent manner. These results indicate that CD14+ monocytes pretreated with IL-2/IL-18, but neither DCs nor monocytes, play a determining role on the development and proliferation of CD56brightCD11c+ cells, which in turn modulate the expansion of γδ T cells. CD56brightCD11c+ NK-like cells may be a novel target for immunotherapy utilizing γδ T cells, by overcoming the limitation of γδ T cells proliferation. © 2013 Li et al.