TITLE:
Differential Expressions of Selected Activating and Inhibitory Receptors on K562-Stimulated Natural Killer (NK) Cells in HIV-1 and HIV-2 Infections
AUTHORS:
Samuel V. Nuvor, Sarah Rowland-Jones, Hilton Whittle, Assan Jaye
KEYWORDS:
NK Cells, HIV-1, HIV-2, IFN-γ, CD4 T Cells
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of AIDS,
Vol.5 No.1,
March
10,
2015
ABSTRACT: Context: The functional activity of NK
cells depends on the balance between the engagement of activating and
inhibitory receptors on the cell surface with their ligands, which enables them
to kill infected cells. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate and
compare expressions of selected activating and inhibitory receptors on
stimulated NK cells in HIV-1 and HIV-2 infections. Methods: PBMCs were analysed
for activating (NKp30, NKp44, NKp46) and inhibitory (CD158a, CD158b, p70)
receptor expressions in 30 HIV-1, 30 HIV-2 and 30 HIV uninfected healthy
control (HC) subjects by flow cytometry after stimulating with K562 cells.
Results: There was an expression of other receptors following an already in
vitro engagement of NK cells with K562 cells. Higher expression of the
activating receptors, NKp44 (p = 0.029) and NKp46 (p = 0.032) on NK cells from
HIV-2 compared to HIV-1 infected individuals but similar NKp30 expression (p =
0.980). The levels of expression of inhibitory receptor CD158a were similar
between HIV-1 and HIV-2 infected subjects (p = 0.309) but there was significant
up-regulation of inhibitory receptors p70 (p = 0.010) and CD158b (p = 0.05) in
HIV-1 compared to HIV-2 subjects. Conclusion: Despite the in vitro engagement
of NK cells with stimulating K562 cells, our data showed differential
expressions of other selected activating and inhibitory receptors in HIV-1 and
HIV-2 infected subjects.