Integrated ATAC-seq and RNA-seq analysis identifies key regulatory elements in NK cells activated with feeder cells and IL-2.

ABSTRACT: Natural killer (NK) cells are in development for allogeneic immunotherapy; however, for such use as off-the-shelf medicines, NK cells need to undergo ex vivo expansion, typically through activation with feeder cells and cytokines, to generate sufficient cells for clinical applications. Upon stimulation with feeder cells in the presence of cytokines, NK cells undergo profound changes in gene expression, altering their metabolic activity, cell cycle progression, and growth behavior, but the precise changes that drive this transformation remain poorly understood. In this study, we identified significant differences in the transcriptome and chromatin accessibility of NK cells 7 days after feeder cell and cytokine activation, with the changes even more pronounced in genome regions closer to enh

SUBMITTER: Motallebnejad P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12079432 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature