Abstract

NK cells, non-T non-B immune effector lymphocytes, are localized in many organs, including liver, as well as in the circulation. To investigate the regulatory mechanism of killing apparatus in hepatic NK cells, we established IL-2-dependent NK cell clones from liver lymphocytes of BALB/c nude mice. To generate the NK cell clones, we incubated liver lymphocytes with a high dose of IL-2 in the presence of irradiated Kupffer cells, as feeder cells and as the source of IL-12, originally identified as NK cell stimulatory factor. Unless liver lymphocytes were incubated with both IL-2 and Kupffer cells, no cell growth was observed. Hepatic NK cell clones were established from this cell line by limiting dilution. The surface phenotypes of cloned NK cells were IL-2R beta-chain+ CD16+ CD3- IgM-. The clones did not express NK2.1, which is expressed by a half of NK-enriched spleen cells of BALB/c mice. Although the cells contained dense granules reactive to mAb against perforin, they exerted no conventional cytolytic activity against YAC-1. They constitutively expressed Fas ligand (FasL) and specifically killed Fas-positive target cells by fragmenting DNA. This Fas-FasL-mediated killing activity was enhanced by IFN-gamma-inducing factor, a recently identified novel cytokine produced by activated Kupffer cells, but was not affected by other Kupffer cell-produced cytokines, such as IL-12, IL-1beta, and TNF-alpha. Taken together, these findings suggest that hepatic NK cells participate in the immune response as effector cells through the Fas-FasL system in collaboration with cytokines from Kupffer cells.