posted on 2023-05-21, 16:28authored byQuah, PS, Sutton, V, Whitlock, E, Figgett, WA, Andrews, DM, Kirsten FairfaxKirsten Fairfax, Mackay, F
The role of B-cell-activating factor (BAFF) in B-lymphocyte biology has been comprehensively studied, but its contributions to innate immunity remain unclear. Natural killer (NK) cells form the first line of defense against viruses and tumors, and have been shown to be defective in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The link between BAFF and NK cells in the development and progression of SLE remains unstudied. By assessing NK cell numbers in wild-type (WT), BAFF-/- (BAFF deficient), BAFF-R-/- (BAFF receptor deficient), TACI-/- (transmembrane activator and calcium modulator and cyclophilin ligand interactor deficient), BCMA-/- (B-cell maturation antigen deficient) and BAFF transgenic (Tg) mice, we observed that BAFF signaling through BAFF-R was essential for sustaining NK cell numbers in the spleen. However, according to the cell surface expression of CD27 and CD11b on NK cells, we found that BAFF was dispensable for NK cell maturation. Ex vivo and in vivo models showed that NK cells from BAFF-/- and BAFF Tg mice produced interferon-γ and killed tumor cells at a level similar to that in WT mice. Finally, we established that NK cells do not express receptors that interact with BAFF in the steady state or in the BAFF Tg mouse model of SLE. Our findings demonstrate that BAFF has an indirect effect on NK cell homeostasis and no effect on NK cell function.
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Maddie Riewoldt's Vision
History
Publication title
Immunology and Cell Biology
Volume
100
Issue
10
Pagination
761-776
ISSN
0818-9641
Department/School
Tasmanian School of Medicine
Publisher
Blackwell Publishing Asia
Place of publication
54 University St, P O Box 378, Carlton, Australia, Victoria, 3053
Rights statement
Copyright 2022 The Authors. Immunology & Cell Biology published by John Wiley &Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology, Inc. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Repository Status
Open
Socio-economic Objectives
Expanding knowledge in the biomedical and clinical sciences