Laboratory of Immunology, Department of Virology, Parasitology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
Department of Enzootic, Vector-Borne and Bee Diseases, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium.
Front Immunol. 2019 Jan 17;9:3188. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.03188. eCollection 2018.
Natural killer (NK) cells belong to the innate immune system and play a central role in the defense against viral infections and cancer development, but also contribute to shaping adaptive immune responses. NK cells are particularly important in the first line defense against herpesviruses, including alphaherpesviruses. In addition to their ability to kill target cells and produce interferon-γ, porcine and human NK cell subsets have been reported to display features associated with professional antigen presenting cells (APC), although it is currently unclear whether NK cells may internalize debris of virus-infected cells and whether this APC-like activity of NK cells may stimulate proliferation of antiviral T cells. Here, using the porcine alphaherpesvirus pseudorabies virus (PRV), we show that vaccination of pigs with a live attenuated PRV vaccine strain triggers expression of MHC class II on porcine NK cells, that porcine NK cells can internalize debris from PRV-infected target cells, and that NK cells can stimulate proliferation of CD8 and CD4CD8 PRV-experienced T cells. These results highlight the potential of targeting these NK cell features in future vaccination strategies.
自然杀伤 (NK) 细胞属于先天免疫系统，在防御病毒感染和癌症发展方面发挥着核心作用，但也有助于塑造适应性免疫反应。NK 细胞在对抗疱疹病毒（包括α疱疹病毒）的第一道防线中尤为重要。除了具有杀伤靶细胞和产生干扰素-γ的能力外，据报道，猪和人 NK 细胞亚群还具有与专业抗原提呈细胞 (APC) 相关的特征，尽管目前尚不清楚 NK 细胞是否可以内化病毒感染细胞的碎片，以及 NK 细胞的这种 APC 样活性是否可以刺激抗病毒 T 细胞的增殖。在这里，我们使用猪α疱疹病毒伪狂犬病病毒 (PRV) 表明，用活减毒 PRV 疫苗株对猪进行疫苗接种会触发猪 NK 细胞表达 MHC Ⅱ类分子，猪 NK 细胞可以内化来自 PRV 感染靶细胞的碎片，并且 NK 细胞可以刺激 CD8 和 CD4CD8 PRV 经验丰富的 T 细胞的增殖。这些结果强调了在未来疫苗接种策略中针对这些 NK 细胞特征的潜力。
