iScience (Oct 2022)

PD-1 expression on mouse intratumoral NK cells and its effects on NK cell phenotype

  • Arnika K. Wagner,
  • Nadir Kadri,
  • Chris Tibbitt,
  • Koen van de Ven,
  • Sunitha Bagawath-Singh,
  • Denys Oliinyk,
  • Eric LeGresley,
  • Nicole Campbell,
  • Stephanie Trittel,
  • Peggy Riese,
  • Ulf Ribacke,
  • Tatyana Sandalova,
  • Adnane Achour,
  • Klas Kärre,
  • Benedict J. Chambers

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 25, no. 10
p. 105137

Abstract

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Summary: Although PD-1 was shown to be a hallmark of T cells exhaustion, controversial studies have been reported on the role of PD-1 on NK cells. Here, we found by flow cytometry and single cell RNA sequencing analysis that PD-1 can be expressed on MHC class I-deficient tumor-infiltrating NK cells in vivo. We also demonstrate distinct alterations in the phenotype of PD-1-deficient NK cells and a more mature phenotype which might reduce their capacity to migrate and kill in vivo. Tumor-infiltrating NK cells that express PD-1 were highly associated with the expression of CXCR6. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that PD-L1 molecules in membranes of PD-1-deficient NK cells migrate faster than in NK cells from wild-type mice, suggesting that PD-1 and PD-L1 form cis interactions with each other on NK cells. These data demonstrate that there may be a role for the PD-1/PD-L1 axis in tumor-infiltrating NK cells in vivo.

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