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View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe contribution of natural killer (NK) cells to the immune containment of human immunodeficiency virus infection remains undefined. To directly assess the role of NK cells in an AIDS animal model, we depleted rhesus monkeys of >88% of CD3(-) CD16(+) CD159a(+) NK cells at the time of primary simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection by using anti-CD16 antibody. During the first 11 days following SIV inoculation, when NK cell depletion was most profound, a trend toward higher levels of SIV replication was noted in NK cell-depleted monkeys compared to those in control monkeys.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNon-human primates serve as key animal models for a variety of viral infections. To evaluate the contribution of natural killer (NK) cells to the immune-mediated control of these viruses in macaque monkeys, we have described a method for depleting NK cells in vivo by administration of anti-human CD16 mouse monoclonal antibody. Using a fluorometric NK-cell cytotoxicity assay, we show that most NK-cell cytotoxicity in rhesus monkey peripheral blood mononuclear cells resides in the CD16(+) and/or CD159A(+) subset of lymphocytes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe lytic capacity of a NK cell is regulated, in part, by the balance in cell surface expression between inhibitory CD94/NKG2A and activating CD94/NKG2C heterodimers. We demonstrate that, in the absence of DAP12, rhesus monkey NKG2A is preferentially expressed at the cell surface with CD94 due to a single amino acid difference in the transmembrane of NKG2A and NKG2C. Furthermore, in the context of an NKG2A transmembrane, the stalk domain of NKG2C was found to enhance heterodimer formation with CD94 compared with the stalk domain of NKG2A.
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