DEFINITION OF A NATURAL-KILLER NKR-P1A(+) CD56(-)/CD16(-) FUNCTIONALLY IMMATURE HUMAN NK CELL SUBSET THAT DIFFERENTIATES IN-VITRO IN THE PRESENCE OF INTERLEUKIN-12/

Human natural killer (NK) cell differentiation from immature Lineage n egative (Lin(-)) umbilical cord blood cells was examined in vitro. Cel ls expressing differentiation antigens of mature NK cells (CD56, CD16, CD2, CD8, NKR-P1A) were generated from Lin(-) cells cultured with int erleukin (IL)-2 and a murine bone marrow stromal cell line expressing the human membrane-bound form of stem cell factor. Two subsets of NK c ells were identified in these cultures: one expressed both NKR-P1A and CD56 and, in variable proportions, all other NK cell differentiation antigens; the second subset expressed only NKR-P1A and, unlike the for mer, was not cytotoxic. Neither subset expressed interferon (IFN)-gamm a mRNA even after stimulation with phorbol di-ester and Ca2+ ionophore , but both expressed tumor necrosis factor alpha mRNA and the cytotoxi c granule-associated proteins TIA-1, perforin, and serine esterase-1. After 10-d culture with IL-2, IL-12, and irradiated B lymphoblastoid c ells, approximate to 45% of the NKR-P1A(+)/CD56(-) cells became CD56(), and the same cultures contained cells capable of cytotoxicity and o f IFN-gamma production. These results indicate that NKR-P1A expression in the absence of other NK cell markers defines an intermediate, func tionally immature stage of NK cell differentiation, and that effector functions develop in these cells, concomitantly with CD56 expression, in the presence of IL-12. These cells likely represent the counterpart of a CD3(-)/NKR-P1A(+)/CD56(-)/CD16(-) cell subset that, as shown her e, is present both in adult and neonatal circulating lymphocytes.