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*Medical Scientist Training Program and Immunology Graduate Program, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242; and
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa and Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Iowa City, Iowa 52246
Embryonic stem (ES) cells are a novel source of cells, especially hematopoietic progenitor cells that can be used to treat degenerative diseases in humans. However, there is a need to determine how ES cell-derived progenitors are regulated by both the adaptive and innate immune systems post transplantation. In this study, we demonstrate that hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) derived from mouse ES cells ectopically expressing HOXB4 fail to engraft long-term in the presence of NK cells. In particular, the H60-expressing Lin–c-kit+ and Lin–Sca-1+ subpopulations were preferentially deleted in Rag2–/–, but not in Rag2–/–
c–/– mice. Up-regulation of class I expression on HPCs prevented their lysis by NK cells, and Ab-mediated depletion of NK cells restored long-term HPC engraftment. In contrast to the notion that ES-derived cells are immune-privileged, we show in this study that NK cells form a formidable barrier to the long-term engraftment of ES cell-derived hematopoietic progenitors.
The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
1 This work was supported in part by National Institutes of Health R01 HL073015 and Veteran Affairs Merit Review.
2 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Nicholas Zavazava, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Department of Internal Medicine, 200 Hawkins Drive, C42 E6 GH, Iowa City, Iowa 52242. E-mail address: nicholas-zavazava{at}uiowa.edu
3 Abbreviations used in this paper: ES cell, embryonic stem cell; EB, embryoid body; HPC, hematopoietic progenitor cell.
4 The online version of this article contains supplementary material.
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