title: Enhancement of Natural Killer cell cytotoxicity by a CD18 integrin-activating antibody.
abstract: Natural Killer (NK) cells kill certain tumor cells and virus infected cells in an antigen-independent manner. Members of CD18 integrins such as CD11a, CD11b, and CD11c are expressed in all NK cells. CD18-blocking mAbs inhibit the killing activity of NK cells implying an essential role of these integrins in NK cell cytotoxicity. In this report we show that the pan CD18-activating mAb, 240Q, augments cytotoxicity of resting NK cells. Since activation of either CD11a or CD11c alone fails to augment the NK cell activity, we postulate that a functional synergy of the individual CD18 integrins is responsible for the observed stimulatory effect of pan CD18 activation on NK cell cytotoxicity.
authors.affiliation: ICOS Corporation, 22021 20th Avenue SE, Bothell, WA 98021, USA. csadhu@icos.com
authors.forename: Chanchal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sadhu
authors.forename: Edith A S
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Donald E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Staunton
mesh_terms: D000906:Antibodies / Q000737:chemistry*; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000737:chemistry; D040881:CD11a Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D039481:CD11b Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D039521:CD11c Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D018821:CD18 Antigens / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D006825:Hybridomas / Q000378:metabolism; D016023:Integrins / Q000378:metabolism*; D020014:K562 Cells; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D040881:CD11a Antigen; D039481:CD11b Antigen; D039521:CD11c Antigen; D018821:CD18 Antigens; D016023:Integrins