title: The generation of human dendritic and NK cells from hemopoietic progenitors induced by interleukin-15.
abstract: Interleukin-15 (IL-15) is a pleiotropic cytokine that induces the generation and differentiation of lymphoid cells and shares many biological activities with IL-2. We have shown here the development of dendritic cells (DC) from human CD34+ hemopoietic precursor cells cultured for 2-4 weeks with IL-15 alone. DC generated with IL-15 have typical morphological, immunocytochemical, phenotypic, and functional characteristics of mature DC. Dual flow cytometry analysis performed weekly demonstrated increasing co-expression of CD1a or CD83 with HLA-DR, CD80, CD86, IL-2R alpha, beta, and gamma. Two populations of cells were distinguished among CD34+ progeny. Small and medium-size cells were mainly natural killer (NK) cells (72.6-85.2% CD56+) and low numbers of DC (9.1-21.3% CD1a+). Large cells were mostly DC (75.4-95.4% CD1a+). Isolated CD34+ cells did not express IL-2R subunits but after 2-3 days in culture with IL-15, they were found to express IL-2Rgamma. Induced expression of IL-2Rgamma on CD34+ cells may explain the primary mechanism of IL-15-regulated differentiation of hemopoietic precursor cells. Thus, our data suggest that IL-15 stimulates CD34+ cells to differentiate into NK and DC and may represent a new growth and survival factor for lymphoid DC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Allegheny University of Health Science, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Bykovskaia
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buffo
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bunker
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Levitt
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Agha
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marks
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Shurin
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shogan
mesh_terms: D018952:Antigens, CD34; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002455:Cell Division; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D019409:Interleukin-15 / Q000276:immunology* / Q000494:pharmacology; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D018952:Antigens, CD34; D019409:Interleukin-15