Elucidation of the role of IL-4-induced NK cells in vivo

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K20954
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Immunology; Experimental pathology
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Enomoto Yutaka 東京大学, 分子細胞生物学研究所, 助教 (20608210)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: NK細胞 / IL-4 / IL-15 / マクロファージ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The roles of NK cells in Th2-type responses have remained unclear. We examined the characteristics of NK cells in mice overexpressing IL-4. We found that IL-4 overexpression induces distinctive characteristics of NK cells, which are different from mature conventional NK (cNK) cells. IL-4 overexpression induces proliferation of tissue-resident macrophages, which contributes to NK cell proliferation via production of IL-15. These IL-4-induced NK cells (IL4-NK cells) produce higher levels of IFN-γ, IL-10, and GM-CSF, and exhibit high cytotoxicity compared with cNK cells. Finally, parasitic infection, which typically causes strong Th2-type responses, induces the development of NK cells with characteristics similar to IL4-NK cells. These results suggest a novel role of IL-4 in immune responses through the induction of the unique NK cells.

Free Research Field

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