NK Cells Alleviate Lung Inflammation by Negatively Regulating Group 2 Innate Lymphoid Cells

Abstract

Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) play an important role in orchestrating type II immune responses. However, the cellular mechanisms of group 2 innate lymphoid cell regulation remain poorly understood. In this study, we found that activated NK cells inhibited the proliferation of, as well as IL-5 and IL-13 production by, ILC2s in vitro via IFN-γ. In addition, in a murine model of ILC2 expansion in the liver, polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid, an NK cell–activating agent, inhibited ILC2 proliferation, IL-5 and IL-13 production, and eosinophil recruitment. Such effects of polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid were abrogated in NK cell–depleted mice and in IFN-γ–deficient mice. Adoptively transferring wild-type NK cells into NK cell–depleted mice resulted in fewer ILC2s induced by IL-33 compared with the transfer of IFN-γ–deficient NK cells. Importantly, during the early stage of papain- or bleomycin-induced lung inflammation, depletion of NK cells resulted in increased ILC2 numbers and enhanced cytokine production by ILC2s, as well as aggravated eosinophilia and goblet cell hyperplasia. Collectively, these data show that NK cells negatively regulate ILC2s during the early stage of lung inflammation, which represents the novel cellular interaction between two family members of ILCs.