title: The ontogeny and fate of NK cells marked by permanent DNA rearrangements.
abstract: A subset of NK cells bears incomplete V(D)J rearrangements, but neither the consequence to cell activities nor the precise developmental stages in which recombination occurs is known. These are important issues, as recombination errors cause cancers of the B and T lineages. Using transgenic recombination reporter mice to examine NK cell dynamics in vivo, we show that recombination(+) NK cells have distinct developmental patterns in the BM, including reduced homeostatic proliferation and diminished Stat5 phosphorylation. In the periphery, both recombination(+) and recombination(-) NK cells mediate robust functional responses including IFN-gamma production, cytolysis, and tumor homing, suggesting that NK cells with distinct developmental histories can be found together in the periphery. We also show that V(D)J rearrangement marks both human cytolytic (CD56(dim)) and immunoregulatory (CD56(bright)) populations, demonstrating the distribution of permanent DNA rearrangements across major NK cell subsets in man. Finally, direct quantification of rag transcripts throughout NK cell differentiation in both mouse and man establishes the specific developmental stages that are susceptible to V(D)J rearrangement. Together, these data demonstrate that multipotent progenitors rather than lineage-specified NK progenitors are targets of V(D)J recombination and that NK cells bearing the relics of earlier V(D)J rearrangements have different developmental dynamics but robust biological capabilities in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 200 Lothrop Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
authors.forename: Kristy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pilbeam
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Basse
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brossay
authors.forename: Nikola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vujanovic
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gerstein
authors.forename: Abbe N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Vallejo
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Borghesi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019002:CD56 Antigen / Q000032:analysis; D019070:Cell Lineage; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D015321:Gene Rearrangement; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D039902:Multipotent Stem Cells / Q000276:immunology; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011995:Recombination, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D050799:STAT5 Transcription Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D045567:VDJ Recombinases / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019002:CD56 Antigen; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C499308:Rag2 protein, mouse; D050799:STAT5 Transcription Factor; C064658:RAG-1 protein; D045567:VDJ Recombinases