Back to Search
Start Over
Enhanced cytotoxic activity of natural killer cells from increased calcium influx induced by electrical stimulation.
- Source :
- PLoS ONE; 4/18/2024, Vol. 19 Issue 4, p1-17, 17p
- Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- Natural killer (NK) cells play a crucial role in immunosurveillance independent of antigen presentation, which is regulated by signal balance via activating and inhibitory receptors. The anti-tumor activity of NK cells is largely dependent on signaling from target recognition to cytolytic degranulation; however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear, and NK cell cytotoxicity is readily impaired by tumor cells. Understanding the activation mechanism is necessary to overcome the immune evasion mechanism, which remains an obstacle in immunotherapy. Because calcium ions are important activators of NK cells, we hypothesized that electrical stimulation could induce changes in intracellular Ca<superscript>2+</superscript> levels, thereby improving the functional potential of NK cells. In this study, we designed an electrical stimulation system and observed a correlation between elevated Ca<superscript>2+</superscript> flux induced by electrical stimulation and NK cell activation. Breast cancer MCF-7 cells co-cultured with electrically stimulated KHYG-1 cells showed a 1.27-fold (0.5 V/cm) and 1.55-fold (1.0 V/cm) higher cytotoxicity, respectively. Electrically stimulated KHYG-1 cells exhibited a minor increase in Ca<superscript>2+</superscript> level (1.31-fold (0.5 V/cm) and 1.11-fold (1.0 V/cm) higher), which also led to increased gene expression of granzyme B (GZMB) by 1.36-fold (0.5 V/cm) and 1.58-fold (1.0 V/cm) by activating Ca<superscript>2+-</superscript>dependent nuclear factor of activated T cell 1 (NFAT1). In addition, chelating Ca<superscript>2+</superscript> influx with 5 μM BAPTA-AM suppressed the gene expression of Ca<superscript>2+</superscript> signaling and lytic granule (granzyme B) proteins by neutralizing the effects of electrical stimulation. This study suggests a promising immunotherapeutic approach without genetic modifications and elucidates the correlation between cytolytic effector function and intracellular Ca<superscript>2+</superscript> levels in electrically stimulated NK cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 19
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 176685063
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0302406