Umbilical Cord Blood Natural Killer Cells, Their Characteristics, and Potential Clinical Applications

Anushruti Sarvaria, Dunia Jawdat, J Alejandro Madrigal, Aurore Saudemont, Anushruti Sarvaria, Dunia Jawdat, J Alejandro Madrigal, Aurore Saudemont

Abstract

Natural killer (NK) cells are lymphocytes of the innate immune system able to kill different targets such as cancer cells and virally infected cells without prior activation making then attractive candidates for cancer immunotherapy. Umbilical cord blood (UCB) has become a source of hematopoietic stem cells for transplantation but as we gain a better understanding of the characteristics of each immune cell that UCB contains, we will also be able to develop new cell therapies for cancer. In this review, we present what is currently known of the phenotype and functions of UCB NK cells and how these cells could be used in the future for cancer immunotherapy.

Keywords: cancer; hematopoietic stem cells; immunotherapy; natural killer cells; umbilical cord blood.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison of phenotypic characteristics between umbilical cord blood (UCB) natural killer (NK) cells and peripheral blood (PB) NK cells. In comparison to PB NK cells, UCB NK cells exhibit similar levels of CD56, NCRs (NKp46 and NKp30), and NKG2D but a lower expression of CD16, adhesion molecules (e.g., CD2, CD11a, CD18, CD62L), KIRs, DNAM-1, NKG2C, IL-2R, and CD57 and CD8 (receptors associated with terminal NK cell maturation) together with a higher expression of inhibitory receptor NKG2A indicating that UCB NK cells possess an immature phenotype and reduced cytotoxicity compared to PB NK cells. Further UCB NK cells have a higher expression of the bone marrow homing receptor, CXCR4, compared to PB NK cells proposing that cord blood NK cells may contain a greater potential to home to the bone marrow. Abbreviations: KIRs, killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors; NCRs, natural cytotoxicity receptors.

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