Role of interaction between Ly49 inhibitory receptors and cognate MHC I molecules in IL2-induced development of NK cells in murine bone marrow cell cultures

Murine bone marrow (BM) cell preparations lack mature cytotoxic natural killer (NK) cells, but NK cells may be induced in these cell preparations by culturing with interleukin-2 (IL2). Present study was aimed at studying the role of interactions between Ly49 molecules and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules during IL2-induced development of mature NK cells in BM cell cultures. Addition of monoclonal antibodies (mabs) specific to class I MHC molecules of H-2(b) haplotype, to block any interaction of MHC I molecules with their receptors, was found to inhibit NK cell development. Mouse NK cells express several types of Ly49 molecules including Ly49C, which is an inhibitory receptor specific to MHC I molecules of H-2(b) haplotype. Blocking Ly49-MHC I interaction by using anti-Ly49C mab inhibited the development of cytotoxic NK cells. Addition of anti-Ly49A (no specificity for H-2(b) MHC I molecules) or anti-Ly49D (activating receptor specific for MHC I molecules of many H-2 haplotypes including H-2(b)) mabs, however, had no effect on IL2-induced NK cell development in BM cells. Mabs specific to Ly49C molecule and MHC I molecules of H-2(b) haplotype inhibited the development of mature NK cells from highly purified NK precursor cell population. These results indicate that specific interaction between inhibitory self-reactive Ly49 molecules and MHC I molecules may be crucial for NK cell development. We propose a model in which Ly49-MHC I interaction may have a permissive role in allowing development of only such NK cell clones that expresses at least one self-reactive inhibitory Ly49 molecule so that lysis of autologous healthy cells by mature NK cells may be avoided. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.