Nishikawa K, Saito S, Morii T, Kato Y, Narita N, Ichijo M, Ohashi Y, Takeshita T, Sugamura K
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Nara Medical University, Japan.
Int Immunol. 1990;2(6):481-6. doi: 10.1093/intimm/2.6.481.
The interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R) is composed of at least two subunits, the IL-2R alpha (P55, CD25/Tac) and IL-2R beta (p70-75) chains. In the present study we have identified the quantitative expression of IL-2R beta on subsets of NK cells in peripheral blood using flow cytometry and a recently established mAb against IL-2R beta (TU27). We demonstrate that NK cells are not a homogeneous population but that phenotypic subsets exist, and that the levels of IL-2R beta expression correlate with these subsets. The levels of IL-2R beta expression on NK subsets are CD3- CD16- CD56bright NK cells (immature NK) greater than CD16+CD4- NK cells (mature NK) greater than CD16+CD57+ NK cells (more mature NK) in adult peripheral blood lymphocytes. The level of IL-2R beta expression on CD16+ NK cells in cord blood is significantly higher than that in adult PBL. These findings suggest that there may be a inverse relationship between IL-2R beta expression and the differentiation of NK cells. IL-2R beta, preferentially expressed on the NK cells, may play an important role in differentiation and maturation of NK cells.
白细胞介素-2受体（IL-2R）至少由两个亚基组成，即IL-2Rα（P55，CD25/Tac）链和IL-2Rβ（p70 - 75）链。在本研究中，我们使用流式细胞术和一种最近建立的抗IL-2Rβ单克隆抗体（TU27），确定了外周血中自然杀伤细胞（NK细胞）亚群上IL-2Rβ的定量表达。我们证明NK细胞不是一个同质群体，而是存在表型亚群，并且IL-2Rβ表达水平与这些亚群相关。在成人外周血淋巴细胞中，NK亚群上IL-2Rβ的表达水平为CD3 - CD16 - CD56bright NK细胞（未成熟NK细胞）大于CD16 + CD4 - NK细胞（成熟NK细胞）大于CD16 + CD57 + NK细胞（更成熟NK细胞）。脐血中CD16 + NK细胞上IL-2Rβ的表达水平显著高于成人外周血淋巴细胞。这些发现表明，IL-2Rβ表达与NK细胞分化之间可能存在负相关关系。优先在NK细胞上表达的IL-2Rβ可能在NK细胞的分化和成熟中起重要作用。
