Asialo-GM1+ natural killer cells directly suppress antibody-producing B cells.
Natural killer (NK) cells were tested for their ability to suppress antigen-induced antibody responses in vitro. Asialo-GM1+ (ASGM1+) cells were prepared from nylon-wool-nonadherent spleen cells obtained from normal mice. After depletion of Ig+, L3T4+ and Lyt-2+ cells, the ASGM1+-enriched cell population had high NK activity which was abrogated by treatment with anti-ASGM1 and C'. This NK-enriched ASGM1+ cell fraction significantly suppressed the generation of antibody-producing cells when added to in vitro immunization cultures of primed spleen cells. Treatment of the NK-enriched cell population with anti-ASGM1 and C' abrogated the ability of these cells to suppress antibody responses. In vitro antibody production by purified B cells was also suppressed in the presence of the NK-enriched cell population, although the kinetics of the suppression differed from that observed with unfractionated spleen cells. In addition, the NK-enriched cell population suppressed the proliferation of the B cell line WEHI-279.1. Suppression of WEHI-279.1 cells was abrogated when the NK-enriched cell population was treated with anti-ASGM1 and C'. These results suggest that normal NK cells suppress the generation of antibody-producing B cells and that this occurs, at least in part, through a direct regulation of the B cell.
Robles
C P
CP
Department of Biological Structure, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle.
Pollack
S B
SB
D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002469:Cell Separation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004306:Dose-Response Relationship, Immunologic; D005260:Female; D005677:G(M1) Ganglioside; D006028:Glycosphingolipids / Q000032:analysis; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology
D006028:Glycosphingolipids; D005677:G(M1) Ganglioside; C018835:asialo GM1 ganglioside