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CD48-expressing non-small-cell lung cancer cells are susceptible to natural killer cell–mediated cytotoxicity

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Abstract

The susceptibility of cancer cells to natural killer (NK) cell–mediated cytotoxicity depends on the balance of activating and inhibitory ligands expressed on their surface. Although many types of cancer cells are killed by NK cells, non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells are relatively resistant to NK cell–mediated cytotoxicity. In this study, we showed that several NSCLC cell lines have differential sensitivity to NK cell–mediated cytotoxicity: NCI-H522 cells were highly sensitive, but A549, NCI-H23, NCI-H1915, and NCI-H1299 were resistant. Among activating ligands such as CD48, HLA-A/B/G, ICAM-1, MICA/B, and ULBPs, only CD48 rendered NCI-H522 cells susceptible to NK cell–mediated cytotoxicity, which was proved by using CD48 siRNA and neutralizing antibody. CD48-positive NCI-H522 cells established a more stable contact with NK cells than did CD48-negative A549 and CD48 siRNA cell–transfected NCI-H522 cells. Taken together, these data demonstrate that CD48-positive NSCLC cells might be susceptible to NK cell–mediated cytotoxicity, which provide information on how to stratify NSCLC patients potentially responsive to NK-cell therapy.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grants funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (2017R1A5A2015541 and 2020R1A2C2004200).

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Correspondence to Sang-Bae Han.

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Supplementary file1 (MP4 4825 kb) Movie S1. NK-92 cell cytotoxicity against A549 cells. Cells were imaged every 2 min for 8 h (magnification, 100×; accelerated 1,200× over real time).

Supplementary file2 (MP4 15564 kb) Movie S2. NK-92 cell cytotoxicity against NCI-H522 cells. Cells were imaged every 2 min for 8 h (magnification, 100×; accelerated 1,200× over real time).

Supplementary file3 (MP4 6249 kb) Movie S3. NK-92 cell cytotoxicity against NCI-H522 cells transfected with CD48 siRNA. Cells were imaged every 2 min for 8 h (magnification, 100×; accelerated 1,200× over real time).

Supplementary file4 (MP4 4596 kb) Movie S4. NK-92 cell cytotoxicity against NCI-H522 cells in the presence of anti-2B4 blocking antibodies. Cells were imaged every 2 min for 8 h (magnification, 100×; accelerated 1,200× over real time).

Supplementary file5 (MP4 2188 kb) Movie S5. Non-killing contacts between NK-92 cells and NCI-H522 cells. Cells were imaged every 2 min for 8 h (magnification, 100×; electronically zoomed; accelerated 1,200× over real time).

Supplementary file6 (MP4 1155 kb) Movie S6. Killing contacts between NK-92 cells and NCI-H522 cells. NK-92 cells and NCI-H522 cells were imaged every 2 min for 8 h (magnification, 100 ×; electronically zoomed; accelerated 1,200x over real-time).

Supplementary file7 (MP4 2946 kb) Movie S7. Stable contacts between NK-92 cells and NCI-H522 cells. NK-92 cells and NCI-H522 cells were imaged every 2 min for 8 h (magnification, 100 ×; electronically zoomed; accelerated 1,200x over real-time).

Supplementary file8 (MP4 2183 kb) Movie S8. Unstable contacts between NK-92 cells and NCI-H522 cells. NK-92 cells and NCI-H522 cells were imaged every 2 min for 8 h (magnification, 100 ×; electronically zoomed; accelerated 1,200x over real-time).

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Park, E.J., Jun, H.W., Na, I.H. et al. CD48-expressing non-small-cell lung cancer cells are susceptible to natural killer cell–mediated cytotoxicity. Arch. Pharm. Res. 45, 1–10 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12272-021-01365-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12272-021-01365-z

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