A murine intestinal intraepithelial NKp46-negative innate lymphoid cell population characterized by group 1 properties

The Ly49E receptor is preferentially expressed on murine innate-like lymphocytes, such as epidermal Vγ3 T cells, intestinal intraepithelial CD8αα(+) T lymphocytes, and CD49a(+) liver natural killer (NK) cells. As the latter have recently been shown to be distinct from conventional NK cells and have innate lymphoid cell type 1 (ILC1) properties, we investigated Ly49E expression on intestinal ILC populations. Here, we show that Ly49E expression is very low on known ILC populations, but it can be used to define a previously unrecognized intraepithelial innate lymphoid population. This Ly49E-positive population is negative for NKp46 and CD8αα, expresses CD49a and CD103, and requires T-bet expression and IL-15 signaling for differentiation and/or survival. Transcriptome analysis reveals a group 1 ILC gene profile, different from NK cells, iCD8α cells, and intraepithelial ILC1. Importantly, NKp46(-)CD8αα(-)Ly49E(+) cells produce interferon (IFN)-γ, suggesting that this previously unrecognized population may contribute to Th1-mediated immunity.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: A Murine Intestinal Intraepithelial NKp46-Negative Innate Lymphoid Cell Population Characterized by Group 1 Properties journaltitle: Cell Reports articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2017.04.068 content_type: article copyright: © 2017 The Author(s).status: publishe