Hematopoietic Origin of Human Natural Killer (NK) Cells: Generation from Immature Progenitors

Abstract

Human natural killer (NK) cells originate from bone marrow, but little is known about NK cell progenitors and ontogeny. We studied the phenotype and functional activity of NK cells derived from highly purified human bone marrow CD34+ cells, which exhibited neither lytic activity nor expression of surface antigens characteristic of NK (CD56) or T (CD3) cells. However, when cultured with hematopoietic growth factors or feeder layers for up to 4 weeks, up to 86% functional CD56+ cells were seen in the absence of mature T cell development. CD56+ cells appeared in all cultures at 2 or 3 weeks, with the largest percentage in those exposed to IL-2. These studies demonstrated that NK cells arise 'in vitro' from immature bone marrow progenitors and also suggest a separate origin and differentiation pathway for NK and T cells. NK cells, Bone marrow, CD34+ cells, Cytokines, Hemopoietic progenitors.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1993
Accession Number
ADA277435

Entities

People

  • Joao L. Ascensao
  • Maria R. Silva
  • Steven Kessler

Organizations

  • Naval Medical Research Center

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Antigens
  • Biomedical Research
  • Blood
  • Blood Cells
  • Bone Marrow
  • Bone Marrow Cells
  • Cardiovascular System
  • Cell Line
  • Cells
  • Cultured Cells
  • Growth Factors
  • Lymphocytes
  • Myeloid Cells
  • Neoplasms
  • Stem Cells

Fields of Study

  • Biology
  • Medicine

Readers

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