HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Data Supplement All Versions of this Article: jimmunol.0901872v1 183/5/2911    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Google Scholar Articles by Sun, J. C. Articles by Lanier, L. L. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Sun, J. C. Articles by Lanier, L. L.

Cutting Edge: IL-15-Independent NK Cell Response to Mouse Cytomegalovirus Infection¹

Joseph C. Sun^*, Averil Ma and Lewis L. Lanier^2,*

^* Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Cancer Research Institute and Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143

NK cells respond rapidly during viral infection. The development, function, and survival of NK cells are thought to be dependent on IL-15. In mice lacking IL-15, NK cells are found in severely decreased numbers. Surprisingly, following infection of IL-15- and IL-15R-deficient mice with mouse CMV, we measured a robust proliferation of Ly49H-bearing NK cells in lymphoid and nonlymphoid organs capable of cytokine secretion and cytolytic function. Remarkably, even in Rag2^–/– x Il2rg^–/– mice, a widely used model of NK cell deficiency, we detected a significant number of NK cells 1 wk after mouse CMV infection. In these mice we measured a >300-fold expansion of NK cells, which was dependent on recognition of the m157 viral glycoprotein ligand and IL-12. Together, these findings demonstrate a previously unrecognized independence of NK cells on IL-15 or other common signaling cytokines during their response against viral infection.

The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

¹ This study was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant AI068129. L.L.L. is an American Cancer Society Professor. J.C.S. is an Irvington Postdoctoral Fellow of the Cancer Research Institute.

² Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Lewis L. Lanier, University of California, San Francisco, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, 513 Parnassus Avenue, Room HSE-1001G, Box 0414, San Francisco, CA 94143-0414. E-mail address: Lewis.Lanier{at}ucsf.edu

³ Abbreviations used in this paper MCMV, mouse cytomegalovirus; _C, IL-2R common -chain; LAMP, lysosome-associated membrane protein; PI, postinfection; WT, wild type.

⁴ The online version of this article contains supplemental material.