A NKp80-Based Identification Strategy Reveals that CD56neg NK Cells Are Not Completely Dysfunctional in Health and Disease
Ane Orrantia,
Iñigo Terrén,
Alicia Izquierdo-Lafuente,
Juncal A. Alonso-Cabrera,
Victor Sandá,
Joana Vitallé,
Santiago Moreno,
María Tasias,
Alasne Uranga,
Carmen González,
Juan J. Mateos,
Juan C. García-Ruiz,
Olatz Zenarruzabeitia,
Francisco Borrego
Affiliations
Ane Orrantia
Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, Immunopathology Group, Barakaldo 48903, Spain
Iñigo Terrén
Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, Immunopathology Group, Barakaldo 48903, Spain
Alicia Izquierdo-Lafuente
Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, Immunopathology Group, Barakaldo 48903, Spain
Juncal A. Alonso-Cabrera
Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, Immunopathology Group, Barakaldo 48903, Spain
Victor Sandá
Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, Immunopathology Group, Barakaldo 48903, Spain
Joana Vitallé
Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, Immunopathology Group, Barakaldo 48903, Spain
Santiago Moreno
Ramón y Cajal Health Research Institute (IRYCIS), Ramón y Cajal University Hospital, Madrid 28034, Spain
María Tasias
Hospital Universitari i Politecnic La Fe, Valencia 46026, Spain
Alasne Uranga
Biodonostia Health Research Institute, Donostia University Hospital, Donostia-San Sebastián 20014, Spain
Carmen González
Biodonostia Health Research Institute, Donostia University Hospital, Donostia-San Sebastián 20014, Spain
Juan J. Mateos
Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, Hematological Cancer Group, Cruces University Hospital, Barakaldo 48903, Spain
Juan C. García-Ruiz
Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, Hematological Cancer Group, Cruces University Hospital, Barakaldo 48903, Spain
Olatz Zenarruzabeitia
Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, Immunopathology Group, Barakaldo 48903, Spain
Francisco Borrego
Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, Immunopathology Group, Barakaldo 48903, Spain; Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao 48013, Spain; Corresponding author
Summary: Natural killer (NK) cells are usually identified by the absence of other lineage markers, due to the lack of cell-surface-specific receptors. CD56neg NK cells, classically identified as CD56negCD16+, are very scarce in the peripheral blood of healthy people but they expand in some pathological conditions. However, studies on CD56neg NK cells had revealed different results regarding the phenotype and functionality. This could be due to, among others, the unstable expression of CD16, which hinders CD56neg NK cells’ proper identification. Hence, we aim to determine an alternative surface marker to CD16 to better identify CD56neg NK cells. We have found that NKp80 is superior to CD16. Furthermore, we found differences between the functionality of CD56negNKp80+ and CD56negCD16+, suggesting that the effector functions of CD56neg NK cells are not as diminished as previously thought. We proposed NKp80 as a noteworthy marker to identify and accurately re-characterize human CD56neg NK cells.
