Interleukin-21 promotes Type-1 activation and cytotoxicity of CD56^dimCD16^bright natural killer cells during kidney allograft antibody-mediated rejection showing a new link between adaptive and innate humoral allo-immunity.

ABSTRACT: The role of Natural killer (NK) cells during kidney allograft antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR) is increasingly recognized, but an in-depth characterization of mechanisms that contribute to such immune response is still under investigation. Here, we characterized phenotypic, functional, and transcriptomic profiles of peripheral blood circulating and allograft infiltrating CD56^dimCD16^bright NK cells during anti-HLA donor-specific antibody (DSA)+ ABMR. Cross-sectional analyses performed in 71 kidney transplant recipients identified a unique phenotypic circulating CD56^dimCD16^bright NK cell cluster expanded in DSA+ ABMR. This cluster co-expressed high levels of the interleukin-21 Receptor (IL-21R); Type-1 transcription factors T-bet and EOMES, CD160

SUBMITTER: Bailly E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10524858 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature