Liver-resident NK cells suppress autoimmune cholangitis and limit the proliferation of CD4⁺ T cells.

ABSTRACT: Liver-resident NK cells are distinct from conventional NK cells and play an important role in the maintenance of liver homeostasis. How liver-resident NK cells participate in autoimmune cholangitis remains unclear. Here, we extensively investigated the impact of NK cells in the pathogenesis of autoimmune cholangitis utilizing the well-established dnTGFβRII cholangitis model, NK cell-deficient (Nfil3^-/-) mice, adoptive transfer and in vivo antibody-mediated NK cell depletion. Our data demonstrated that disease progression was associated with a significantly reduced frequency of hepatic NK cells. Depletion of NK cells resulted in exacerbated autoimmune cholangitis in dnTGFβRII mice. We further confirmed that the DX5^-CD11c^hi liver-resident NK cell subset coloc

SUBMITTER: Zhao ZB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7000693 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature