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IL-15-induced IL-10 increases the cytolytic activity of human natural killer cells

  • Published:
Molecules and Cells

Abstract

Interleukin 10 (IL-10) is a multifunctional cytokine that regulates diverse functions of immune cells. Natural killer (NK) cells express the IL-10 and IL-10 receptor, but little is known about the function of IL-10 on NK cell activation. In this study, we show the expression and role of IL-10 in human NK cells. Among the cytokines tested, IL-15 was the most potent inducer of IL-10, with a maximal peak expression at 5 h after treatment. Furthermore, IL-10 receptor was shown to be expressed in NK cells. IL-10 alone had a significant effect on NK cytotoxicity which additively increased NK cell cytotoxicity in the presence of IL-15. Neutralizing IL-10 with anti-IL-10 antibody suppressed the inductive effect of IL-10 on NK cell cytotoxicity; however, IL-10 had no effect on IFN-γ or TNF-α production or NK cell activatory receptor expression. STAT signals are implicated as a key mediator of IL-10/IL-15 cytotoxicity response. Thus, the effect of IL-10 on NK cells is particularly interesting with regard to the STAT3 signal that was enhanced by IL-10 or IL-15.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cell Therapy Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, 305-806, Korea

    Ju Yeong Park, Suk Hyung Lee, Suk-Ran Yoon, Young-Jun Park, Haiyoung Jung, Tae-Don Kim & Inpyo Choi

  2. Department of Functional Genomics, University of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 305-350, Korea

    Ju Yeong Park, Suk-Ran Yoon, Young-Jun Park, Haiyoung Jung & Inpyo Choi

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  1. Ju Yeong Park
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  2. Suk Hyung Lee
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  3. Suk-Ran Yoon
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  4. Young-Jun Park
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  6. Tae-Don Kim
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  7. Inpyo Choi
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Correspondence to Tae-Don Kim or Inpyo Choi.

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Park, J.Y., Lee, S.H., Yoon, SR. et al. IL-15-induced IL-10 increases the cytolytic activity of human natural killer cells. Mol Cells 32, 265–272 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10059-011-1057-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10059-011-1057-8

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