Age-related changes in interferon-alpha/beta receptor expression, binding, and induction of apoptosis in natural killer cells from C57BL/6 mice.

Natural killer (NK) cells are a critical first line of defense against viral infections and tumors. We showed previously that basal NK cytotoxicity was comparable in adult (6 month) and aged (24 month) C57BL/6 (B6) mice. However, NK activity was significantly higher in adult compared with aged B6 mice after either in vitro or in vivo stimulation with IFN-alpha/beta. The present study explored whether age-related decreases in inducible NK activity after stimulation with IFN-alpha/beta were due to differences in (1) IFN-alpha/beta receptor expression or IFN-alpha/beta binding to NK cells or (2) apoptosis of NK cells. Flow cytometry revealed that, despite significantly higher IFN-alpha/beta receptor expression (P

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0047-6374(00)00164-0	DOI Listing