Processed Osteoclasts Similar to Live Osteoclasts are Capable of Supercharging Natural Killer (sNK) Cells.

In this paper, we compared the ability to expand/supercharge NK cells (sNK) by either processed osteoclasts (pOCs) or live osteoclasts (OCs). pOCs induced similar levels of cell expansion in NK cells compared to live OCs. pOC-generated sNK cells exhibited lower lysis of oral squamous carcinoma stem-like cells (OSCSCs) tumors in comparison to live OC-generated sNK cells. Slightly lower levels of IFN-γ secretion were also observed in pOC-generated sNK cells when compared to live OC-generated sNK cells. Cytotoxic function and secretion levels of IFN-γ remained low in pOC-sNK cultures compared to OC-sNK cultures even after adding the supernatants harvested from live OCs to pOC-sNK cultures. pOCs were equally capable of selecting CD8+ T cells in sNK cell cultures when compared to live OCs. Overall, even though live OCs are capable of activating slightly better than the processed osteoclasts, the use of pOCs is preferable for the expansion of sNK cells due to shorter NK expansion period, higher cost-effectiveness, and faster availability for patient infusion.