Role of NK cell education in exogenous cytokine stimulation.

<p>Whole blood from nine HLA-Bw4 carriers and five HLA-Bw6 homozygous healthy controls was incubated with ADCC-competent plasma in the presence of HIV-1 Env antigen, with or without exogenous IL-15. (A) CD3⁻ CD56⁺ NK cells were gated upon and assessed for KIR3DL1 expression. (B) KIR3DL1⁺ NK cells from HLA-Bw4 carriers and HLA-Bw6 homozygotes were assessed for their ability to mediate bifunctional (i.e., CD107a⁺IFNγ⁺) anti-HIV ADCC responses in the absence and presence of IL-15. The graph represents the influence of IL-15 on the bifunctionality of NK cells from the KIR3DL1⁺ subset in both groups. The impact of IL-15 on the bifunctionality of these NK cells was assessed using paired T-tests.