Analyses of the function of IL-4-induced NK cells

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25870177
• 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): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: NK細胞 / IL-4 / IL-15

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We examined the phenotype of NK cells in mice over-expressing IL-4 by hydrodynamic tail vein injection. IL-4 expression induced a unique NK cell population, which was different from conventional mature NK cells. Moreover, these IL-4-induced NK cells produced a large amount of cytokines and exhibited a high cytotoxicity compared to conventional mature NK cells. Additionally, IL-4 over-expression was shown to induce proliferation of macrophage, which might contribute to NK cell proliferation.we depleted macrophages by administration of clodronate liposomes and then we overexpressed IL-4. At 3 days after the injection, we analyzed NK cells in the liver by flow cytometry. Depletion of macrophages suppressed the induction of IL4-NK cells in both the liver. Collectively, these results suggest a novel role of IL-4 in Th2 responses through the induction of the cell population with strong NK activity.

Free Research Field

免疫学