Abstract
Natural killer (NK) cell activity is a conventional parameter used to determine the performance lytic activity against tumor as well as virus-infected cells in innate immunity. However, use of this parameter has several problems related to bioassay measurements. To measure NK cell activity, target cells and cell culture equipment are required and adequate pre-culture of target cells is needed to maintain constant sensitivity for NK cells. NK cell-activating receptors play an important role in the recognition of targets, which transduce the signals necessary for cellular machinery to induce target injury and cytokine production. We statistically examined the parameters related to the NK cell activity of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) by multiple regression analysis, and obtained a formula with NK cell % and RNA levels of two genes in isolated NK cells. The score calculated using this formula with the three measured values showed significant correlation with NK cell activity. This prediction score, named the non-incubating natural killer (NINK) score, which is independent of target cells, is not affected by inappropriate preparation of those targets, and allows us to accurately compare the performance of NK cell activity among specimens.
Keywords
- NK cell activity
- activating receptor
- NKp46
- IFN-γ
1. Introduction
The characteristics of antitumor immunity in the body are of interest not only with respect to healthy individuals but also in relation to patients diagnosed with certain kinds of tumor diseases. With the former, information can be utilized by individuals to assess their lifestyle so as to prevent the occurrence of tumor diseases. If smokers were aware of decreased levels of their antitumor immune functions, they might be more motivated to quit smoking or to have medical checks more often. As these considerations are invaluable in the area of preventive medicine, and have the potential to decrease the national cost of medical expenses, the development of appropriate and easy-to-use devices for measuring the status of tumor immunity would be desirable. In clinical medicine, doctors also hope to determine alterations in immunological status as well as tumor size in the body of patients following cancer therapy. The immunological information obtained following the treatment might contribute to an adequate determination of the therapeutic efficacy by doctors. Natural killer (NK) cell activity testing is one effective approach to determine the status of antitumor immunity in the body, which is reflected from the crosstalk between cancer cells and immune cells and the nature of those immune cells. NK cell activity is a conventional index which represents the ability of cell samples to injure NK cell-sensitive target cells, and we utilized the method of NK cell activity to evaluate the natural cytotoxic activity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained from patients and an NK cell line [1–5]. A recent 11-year follow-up study from 1986 to 1990 involving 3652 Japanese residents of the general population clearly demonstrated the importance of determining and evaluating NK cell activity. In that report, individuals with low NK cell activity actually showed higher cumulative incidence rates of cancer compared to people with high or medium NK cell activity, regardless of gender [6]. In particular, women showed more differences in the incidence rate of cancer, which represented about a twofold difference between groups with low and high or medium levels of NK cell activity. Thus, NK cell activity is a good index in evaluating the status of antitumor immunity. In fact, our previous studies measuring NK cell activity demonstrated that indoor air conditions have a potential to interfere with NK cell function [7–10]. However, NK cell activity testing possesses several difficulties, which concerns researchers and doctors when considering the potential use of NK cell activity as an index in basic and clinical studies in medical science. In the next section, these issues will be examined.
2. The conventional method to examine NK cell activity
Simplicity is the reason why the conventional method of determining NK cell activity has been a standard till date. With this method, NK cell-sensitive targets such as K562 cells are prepared and cell specimens are incubated with the target cells for 4 h at 37°C in a CO2 incubator. The original “51Chromium release assay (CRA)” method was developed during the 1960s [11, 12]. With that original method, researchers have to label target cells with the 51Cr radioisotope in an effort to determine the amount of radioisotope released from targets lysed by NK cells in specimens, which reflects the amount of killed targets or, in other words, the NK cell activity. Although to date, commercial services have been examining NK cell activity by employing the 51Cr release assay, researchers have the option of using flow cytometry with fluorescence dyes
In this formula, the percentage of spontaneously dead cells represented the percentage of dead cells in target cells harvested from wells without effector cells. In that experiment, the values of NK cell activity clearly differed among the four kinds of pre-cultured K562 cells and showed a maximum twofold difference at an E/T ratio of 10. These results indicate that the values of NK cell activity vary between assays, a phenomenon which is unavoidable when using target cells, that is, bioassay. If researchers were not bound to use target cells for the determination of NK cell activity without targets, the results obtained from the assays might be more stable, and requirements such as a CO2 incubator and a clean bench for cell culture would be unnecessary. Therefore, we attempted to develop a new method to determine NK cell activity without the use of cell culture.
3. The importance of NK cell-activating receptors in NK cell cytotoxicity
Although both NK and CD8+ T cells have the ability to injure target cells, these cells also possess many different characteristics, one of which is the machinery required for the recognition of targets followed by signal transduction linked to cell injury. The diversity of antigen specificity in T cells is dependent on the T cell receptor (TCR) complex on the cell surface, and accounts for the ability of CD8+ T cells to recognize and kill any kind of target cell by the strong interaction between the TCR and MHC antigen peptide complex. However, as naïve T cells are not ready to exert target injury and antigen specificity differs among cells, with only a small amount being present within each clone, CD8+ T cells need to be activated before injuring targets. In contrast, NK cells are capable of killing targets with no activation required and are equipped with various kinds of receptors to recognize targets, referred to as NK cell-activating receptors (KARs) [13–16]. NKG2D is the most-studied of these receptors and belongs to the NKG2 family of proteins which are characterized by the presence of a lectin-like domain. NKG2D binds to MHC class I polypeptide-related sequence A and B (MICA/B) and UL16-binding protein (ULBP) [17–22], which are often expressed in tumor cells [23, 24]. Natural cytotoxicity receptors (NCRs) also play a role in killing various kinds of tumors, and NKp30, NKp44, NKp46 and NKp80 are members of the NCR family of proteins [14]. Moreover, the signaling lymphocyte activating molecule (SLAM) family are another group of players involved in the recognition of targets by NK cells, and 2B4 (CD244), a representative member of the SLAM family, recognizes CD48 and leads to cytotoxicity [25–29]. It is thought that the variety of activating receptors on a single cell impart NK cells with the ability to exert cytotoxicity against various target cells without clonal selection and expansion as with T lymphocytes. Those activating receptors share the same mechanism of signal transduction, by which a microtubule organizing center (MTOC) is induced to polarize cytotoxic granules, including perforin and granzymes, near the plasma membrane, and those intra-granular molecules are subsequently released against targets
4. The roles executed by NK cells with molecules in cytotoxic granules, the cell surface ligand and secreted proteins
As mentioned above, the cell surface expression of activating receptors on NK cells is a key event which defines the performance of those cells. What precisely occurs in NK cells following stimulation with KARs? NK cells execute two different events following recognition of target cells with activating receptors (Figure 3). The first event exerts natural cytotoxicity against the targets by releasing perforin and granzymes in cytotoxic granules into the space of the immune synapse between NK and target cells. Perforin is thought to function in generating a pore in the plasma membrane as complement proteins, and then granzymes enter through the pore and mediate apoptosis by deploying their serine protease activity [34]. Alternatively, NK cells also express cell surface FasL, which can also induce apoptosis through Fas receptors on the target cells [35]. Moreover, TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is also produced by NK cells and induces apoptosis of target cells like FasL [36–38]. This natural cytotoxicity itself highlights the importance of early removal of abnormal cells, which transiently appear in the body, and directly contributes to preventing the development of tumor diseases. However, it also has another role linked to antigen-specific cytotoxicity by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in acquired immunity. CTLs have to be primed by dendritic cells (DCs) with a complex comprising antigen peptide and MHC class I molecule before they can become effective cytotoxic cells from naïve cells. In this priming, extracellular antigen is exceptionally presented on MHC class I for CTLs by a particular subset of DCs, in a process referred to as “cross-presentation” [39–41]. These type of DCs endocytose dead target cells, digest their antigens and express a complex of MHC class I and antigen peptide on the cell surface [42], and the dead cells can be provided from early injury of target cells by NK cells to DCs [43]. That is why NK cells are linked to acquired immunity as well as function in innate immunity by themselves. Secondly, the production of cytokines including TNF-α and IFN-γ by NK cells after recognition of targets also plays an important role in DC maturation [43, 44]. Those cytokines stimulate DCs to produce IL-12 and other proinflammatory cytokines, which promote Th1 cell polarization and CTL development with specificity against target cells. Additionally, IFN-γ produced by NK cells is able to effect Th1 polarization directly. Those findings relating to the production of cytokines by NK cells, in particular, as IFN-γ is a key cytokine which is produced by NK cells and supports tumor immunity, leads us to hypothesize that the production of IFN-γ by NK cells in an individual might be utilized alone to estimate the performance of natural cytotoxicity in those cells. However, it is known that NK cells can be divided into two populations comprising CD56bright and CD56dim cells, which show different natural cytotoxicity and production of IFN-γ. CD56bright NK cells have high production of IFN-γ and low natural cytotoxicity, whereas CD56dim NK cells have low production of IFN-γ and high natural cytotoxicity [45, 46]. Those findings demonstrate that measurement of IFN-γ production by NK cells is insufficient to estimate the natural cytotoxicity of those cells and that determination of multiple parameters related to NK cells is necessary in order to effectively evaluate the performance of natural cytotoxicity in an indirect manner. All of this information indicates that the performance of NK cells is reflected by the strength of stimulation through cell surface activating receptors as well as the subsequent production of functional molecules as described above.
5. The development of a new index: non-incubating natural killer (NINK) score
The findings concerning NK cells described above led our research group to surmise that calculation of a prediction score based on several factors that play a role in NK cells might be utilized as an effective index to determine the performance of NK cell activity of PBMCs in an individual without the need to prepare target cells. Therefore, we statistically analyzed factors that may correlate with the NK cell activity of human PBMCs using multiple regression analysis with linear regression model, and in doing so attempted to arrive at a formula to calculate the prediction score of NK cell activity (Figure 4) (manuscript of an original article under preparation). In that analysis, the following parameters were used as independent variables for NK cell activity: the percentage of CD3−CD56+NK cells (NK%) in PBMCs and mRNA levels of NKp46, granzyme B, FasL, TNF-α and IFN-γ relative to GAPDH mRNA levels in isolated NK cells, which were measured by flow cytometry and real-time PCR, respectively. The value of the mRNA level, being ΔCq obtained from real-time PCR, was log-transformed (base-10) and used for the multiple regression analysis. The NK% and other parameters were examined as quantitative and qualitative parameters, respectively, and related to the performance of NK cell activity, the reason why those parameters were chosen for that analysis. The conventional index of NK cell activity of PBMCs was assayed using the K562 cell line as the target cells. The results of the multiple regression analysis showed a significant correlation between NK cell activity and NK%, NKp46 mRNA and IFN-γ mRNA, and the prediction formula obtained from the statistical analysis comprises the aforementioned three correlation factors as shown below.
The score calculated using the prediction formula with values of each parameter derived from each individual showed a better Pearson’s correlation coefficient with NK cell activity than using either NK%, NKp46 mRNA or IFN-γ mRNA levels alone. These results indicate that this prediction score, named the non-incubating natural killer (NINK) score, can reflect the performance of natural cytotoxicity without the use of target cells to measure NK cell activity (patent pending). Finally, we confirmed the feasibility of the NINK score using another group of individuals. In this experiment, blood in collection tubes was stored overnight in a container box at 22°C prior to executing the assays outlined below, since the actual procedures involving PBMC preparation, NK% measurement and isolation of CD56+ NK cells, followed by subsequent measurement of mRNA levels, may need to be performed on the following day after the blood is collected at a distant clinic and then transported to the institute where the subsequent procedures are performed. The results of that experiment clearly demonstrated that the NINK score calculated with values comprising NK% and mRNA levels of NKp46 and IFN-γ in NK cells obtained even from blood stored for 1 day show good correlation with NK cell activity (Figure 5). When individuals were divided into groups comprising low and high NK cell activity or groups comprising low and high NINK score using the averages as cut-off values, most of the low NINK score group (87.5%) showed low NK cell activity, while most of the high NINK score group (85.7%) showed high NK cell activity. Taken together, these findings indicate that the NINK score is an effective measure of the natural cytotoxicity of specimens and obviates the need to assay for NK cell activity using target cells.
6. Discussion
Our demonstration indicates that the NINK score can be employed as a new index to determine the performance of natural cytotoxicity of PBMCs without the use of target cells or cell culture equipment for incubation. Figure 6 shows the difference between the conventional index of NK cell activity and our new index of the NINK score. The conventional index of NK cell activity is useful since it can be determined by only using fluorescence or radioisotope-labeled target cells. However, it is often difficult to maintain good conditions of NK sensitivity in target cells. Technicians need to pre-culture cells under the same cell density and culture period (days) conditions in an effort to maintain good NK sensitivity of the cells. If daily measurement of NK activity is required, many pre-culture lines need to be prepared, which is unrealistic in a small institute. Additionally, since measurement of NK cell activity is based on a “bioassay”, this traditional index is prone to variation between assays. This problem often troubles researchers since the altered sensitivity of target cells creates difficulties when combining results obtained from multiple assays. Similar to the measurement of NK cell activity by examining the release of 51Cr or fluorescence labeling, the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay has a problem in terms of the bioassay. In the LDH release assay, the activity of LDH derived from lysed target cells in media is measured as an absorbance following incubation of effector cells with target cells [47–49]. As an alternative approach, the level of degranulation induced by stimulation with activating receptors was assayed to assess the lytic activity of NK cells
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Ms. Tamayo Hatayama, Shoko Yamamoto and Miho Ikeda for their technical help. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.
References
- 1.
Nishimura Y, Miura Y, Maeda M, Kumagai N, Murakami S, Hayashi H, et al. Impairment in cytotoxicity and expression of NK cell- activating receptors on human NK cells following exposure to asbestos fibers. International Journal of Immunopathology and Pharmacology. 2009; 22 (3):579-590 - 2.
Nishimura Y, Maeda M, Kumagai N, Hayashi H, Miura Y, Otsuki T. Decrease in phosphorylation of ERK following decreased expression of NK cell-activating receptors in human NK cell line exposed to asbestos. International Journal of Immunopathology and Pharmacology. 2009; 22 (4):879-888 - 3.
Nishimura Y, Kumagai-Takei N, Maeda M, Matsuzaki H, Lee S, Yamamoto S, Hatayama T,Yoshitome K, Otsuki T. Suppressive effects of asbestos exposure on the human immune surveillance system. In: Otsuki T DGM, Petrarca C, editor. Allergy and Immunotoxicology in Occupational Health. Tokyo: Springer Japan; 2016. p. accepted - 4.
Nishimura Y, Kumagai-Takei N, Matsuzaki H, Lee S, Maeda M, Kishimoto T, et al. Functional alteration of natural killer cells and cytotoxic T lymphocytes upon asbestos exposure and in malignant mesothelioma patients. BioMed Research International. 2015; 2015 :1-9 - 5.
Nishimura Y, Maeda M, Kumagai-Takei N, Matsuzaki H, Lee S, Miura Y, et al. Effect of asbestos on antitumor immunity and immunological alteration in patients with mesothelioma. In: Belli C, editor. Malignant Mesothelioma. Rijeka: InTech d.o.o; 2012. pp. 31-48 - 6.
Imai K, Matsuyama S, Miyake S, Suga K, Nakachi K. Natural cytotoxic activity of peripheral-blood lymphocytes and cancer incidence: An 11-year follow-up study of a general population. Lancet. 2000; 356 (9244):1795-1799 - 7.
Takahashi K, Otsuki T, Mase A, Kawado T, Kotani M, Ami K, et al. Negatively-charged air conditions and responses of the human psycho-neuro-endocrino-immune network. Environment International. 2008; 34 (6):765-772 - 8.
Takahashi K, Otsuki T, Mase A, Kawado T, Kotani M, Nishimura Y, et al. Two weeks of permanence in negatively-charged air conditions causes alteration of natural killer cell function. International Journal of Immunopathology and Pharmacology. 2009; 22 (2):333-342 - 9.
Nishimura Y, Takahashi K, Mase A, Kotani M, Ami K, Maeda M, et al. Exposure to negatively charged-particle dominant air-conditions on human lymphocytes in vitro activates immunological responses. Immunobiology. 2015; 220 (12):1359-1368 - 10.
Nishimura Y, Takahashi K, Mase A, Kotani M, Ami K, Maeda M, et al. Enhancement of NK cell cytotoxicity induced by long-term living in negatively charged-particle dominant indoor air-conditions. PLoS One. 2015; 10 (7):e0132373 - 11.
Brunner KT, Mauel J, Cerottini JC, Chapuis B. Quantitative assay of the lytic action of immune lymphoid cells on 51-Cr-labelled allogeneic target cells in vitro; inhibition by isoantibody and by drugs. Immunology. 1968; 14 (2):181-196 - 12.
Vainio T, Koskimies O, Perlmann P, Perlmann H, Klein G. In vitro cytotoxic effect of lymphoid cells from mice immunized with allogeneic tissue. Nature. 1964; 204 :453-455 - 13.
Yokoyama WM, Plougastel BF. Immune functions encoded by the natural killer gene complex. Nature Reviews. Immunology. 2003; 3 (4):304-316 - 14.
Moretta A, Bottino C, Vitale M, Pende D, Cantoni C, Mingari MC, et al. Activating receptors and coreceptors involved in human natural killer cell-mediated cytolysis. Annual Review of Immunology. 2001; 19 :197-223 - 15.
Moretta L, Moretta A. Unravelling natural killer cell function: Triggering and inhibitory human NK receptors. The EMBO Journal. 2004; 23 (2):255-259 - 16.
Vivier E, Tomasello E, Baratin M, Walzer T, Ugolini S. Functions of natural killer cells. Nature Immunology. 2008; 9 (5):503-510 - 17.
Leong CC, Chapman TL, Bjorkman PJ, Formankova D, Mocarski ES, Phillips JH, et al. Modulation of natural killer cell cytotoxicity in human cytomegalovirus infection: The role of endogenous class I major histocompatibility complex and a viral class I homolog. The Journal of Experimental Medicine. 1998; 187 (10):1681-1687 - 18.
Arase H, Mocarski ES, Campbell AE, Hill AB, Lanier LL. Direct recognition of cytomegalovirus by activating and inhibitory NK cell receptors. Science. 2002; 296 (5571):1323-1326 - 19.
Sutherland CL, Chalupny NJ, Cosman D. The UL16-binding proteins, a novel family of MHC class I-related ligands for NKG2D, activate natural killer cell functions. Immunological Reviews. 2001; 181 :185-192 - 20.
Sutherland CL, Chalupny NJ, Schooley K, VandenBos T, Kubin M, Cosman D. UL16-binding proteins, novel MHC class I-related proteins, bind to NKG2D and activate multiple signaling pathways in primary NK cells. Journal of Immunology. 2002; 168 (2):671-679 - 21.
Cosman D, Mullberg J, Sutherland CL, Chin W, Armitage R, Fanslow W, et al. ULBPs, novel MHC class I-related molecules, bind to CMV glycoprotein UL16 and stimulate NK cytotoxicity through the NKG2D receptor. Immunity. 2001; 14 (2):123-133 - 22.
Raulet DH. Roles of the NKG2D immunoreceptor and its ligands. Nature Reviews. Immunology. 2003; 3 (10):781-790 - 23.
Bauer S, Groh V, Wu J, Steinle A, Phillips JH, Lanier LL, et al. Activation of NK cells and T cells by NKG2D, a receptor for stress-inducible MICA. Science. 1999; 285 (5428):727-729 - 24.
Wu J, Song Y, Bakker AB, Bauer S, Spies T, Lanier LL, et al. An activating immunoreceptor complex formed by NKG2D and DAP10. Science. 1999; 285 (5428):730-732 - 25.
Garni-Wagner BA, Purohit A, Mathew PA, Bennett M, Kumar V. A novel function-associated molecule related to non-MHC-restricted cytotoxicity mediated by activated natural killer cells and T cells. Journal of Immunology. 1993; 151 (1):60-70 - 26.
Valiante NM, Trinchieri G. Identification of a novel signal transduction surface molecule on human cytotoxic lymphocytes. The Journal of Experimental Medicine. 1993; 178 (4):1397-1406 - 27.
Endt J, Eissmann P, Hoffmann SC, Meinke S, Giese T, Watzl C. Modulation of 2B4 (CD244) activity and regulated SAP expression in human NK cells. European Journal of Immunology. 2007; 37 (1):193-198 - 28.
Veillette A. NK cell regulation by SLAM family receptors and SAP-related adapters. Immunological Reviews. 2006; 214 :22-34 - 29.
Veillette A, Cruz-Munoz ME, Zhong MC. SLAM family receptors and SAP-related adaptors: Matters arising. Trends in Immunology. 2006; 27 (5):228-234 - 30.
Chen X, Trivedi PP, Ge B, Krzewski K, Strominger JL. Many NK cell receptors activate ERK2 and JNK1 to trigger microtubule organizing center and granule polarization and cytotoxicity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2007; 104 (15):6329-6334 - 31.
Chen X, Allan DS, Krzewski K, Ge B, Kopcow H, Strominger JL. CD28-stimulated ERK2 phosphorylation is required for polarization of the microtubule organizing center and granules in YTS NK cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2006; 103 (27):10346-10351 - 32.
Krzewski K, Coligan JE. Human NK cell lytic granules and regulation of their exocytosis. Frontiers in Immunology. 2012; 3 :335 - 33.
Sivori S, Pende D, Bottino C, Marcenaro E, Pessino A, Biassoni R, et al. NKp46 is the major triggering receptor involved in the natural cytotoxicity of fresh or cultured human NK cells. Correlation between surface density of NKp46 and natural cytotoxicity against autologous, allogeneic or xenogeneic target cells. European Journal of Immunology. 1999; 29 (5):1656-1666 - 34.
Trapani JA, Smyth MJ. Functional significance of the perforin/granzyme cell death pathway. Nature Reviews. Immunology. 2002; 2 (10):735-747 - 35.
Smyth MJ, Hayakawa Y, Takeda K, Yagita H. New aspects of natural-killer-cell surveillance and therapy of cancer. Nature Reviews Cancer. 2002; 2 (11):850-861 - 36.
Zamai L, Ahmad M, Bennett IM, Azzoni L, Alnemri ES, Perussia B. Natural killer (NK) cell-mediated cytotoxicity: Differential use of TRAIL and Fas ligand by immature and mature primary human NK cells. The Journal of Experimental Medicine. 1998; 188 (12):2375-2380 - 37.
Takeda K, Hayakawa Y, Smyth MJ, Kayagaki N, Yamaguchi N, Kakuta S, et al. Involvement of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand in surveillance of tumor metastasis by liver natural killer cells. Nature Medicine. 2001; 7 (1):94-100 - 38.
Smyth MJ, Cretney E, Takeda K, Wiltrout RH, Sedger LM, Kayagaki N, et al. Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) contributes to interferon gamma-dependent natural killer cell protection from tumor metastasis. The Journal of Experimental Medicine. 2001; 193 (6):661-670 - 39.
Hildner K, Edelson BT, Purtha WE, Diamond M, Matsushita H, Kohyama M, et al. Batf3 deficiency reveals a critical role for CD8alpha+ dendritic cells in cytotoxic T cell immunity. Science. 2008; 322 (5904):1097-1100 - 40.
Cresswell P, Ackerman AL, Giodini A, Peaper DR, Wearsch PA. Mechanisms of MHC class I-restricted antigen processing and cross-presentation. Immunological Reviews. 2005; 207 :145-157 - 41.
Kurts C, Robinson BW, Knolle PA. Cross-priming in health and disease. Nature Reviews. Immunology. 2010; 10 (6):403-414 - 42.
Guermonprez P, Saveanu L, Kleijmeer M, Davoust J, Van Endert P, Amigorena S. ER-phagosome fusion defines an MHC class I cross-presentation compartment in dendritic cells. Nature. 2003; 425 (6956):397-402 - 43.
Ferlazzo G, Morandi B. Cross-talks between natural killer cells and distinct subsets of dendritic cells. Frontiers in Immunology. 2014; 5 :159 - 44.
Van Elssen CH, Oth T, Germeraad WT, Bos GM, Vanderlocht J. Natural killer cells: The secret weapon in dendritic cell vaccination strategies. Clinical Cancer Research. 2014; 20 (5):1095-1103 - 45.
Cooper MA, Fehniger TA, Turner SC, Chen KS, Ghaheri BA, Ghayur T, et al. Human natural killer cells: A unique innate immunoregulatory role for the CD56(bright) subset. Blood. 2001; 97 (10):3146-3151 - 46.
Poli A, Michel T, Theresine M, Andres E, Hentges F, Zimmer J. CD56bright natural killer (NK) cells: An important NK cell subset. Immunology. 2009; 126 (4):458-465 - 47.
Konjevic G, Jurisic V, Spuzic I. Association of NK cell dysfunction with changes in LDH characteristics of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) in breast cancer patients. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. 2001; 66 (3):255-263 - 48.
Konjevic G, Jurisic V, Spuzic I. Corrections to the original lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay for the evaluation of NK cell cytotoxicity. Journal of Immunological Methods. 1997; 200 (1-2):199-201 - 49.
Korzeniewski C, Callewaert DM. An enzyme-release assay for natural cytotoxicity. Journal of Immunological Methods. 1983; 64 (3):313-320 - 50.
Alter G, Malenfant JM, Altfeld M. CD107a as a functional marker for the identification of natural killer cell activity. Journal of Immunological Methods. 2004; 294 (1-2):15-22 - 51.
Kiessling R, Klein E, Wigzell H. “natural” killer cells in the mouse. I. Cytotoxic cells with specificity for mouse Moloney leukemia cells. Specificity and distribution according to genotype. European Journal of Immunology. 1975; 5 (2):112-117 - 52.
Kiessling R, Klein E, Pross H, Wigzell H. “Natural” killer cells in the mouse. II. Cytotoxic cells with specificity for mouse Moloney leukemia cells. Characteristics of the killer cell. European Journal of Immunology. 1975; 5 (2):117-121