Impairment of Natural Killer Cytotoxic Activity and Interferon γ Production in Ccaat/Enhancer Binding Protein γ–Deficient Mice

We have investigated in vivo roles of CCAAT/enhancer binding protein γ (C/EBPγ) by gene targeting. C/EBPγ-deficient (C/EBPγ(2/−)) mice showed a high mortality rate within 48 h after birth. To analyze the roles of C/EBPγ in lymphoid lineage cells, bone marrow chimeras were established. C/EBPγ(2/−) chimeras showed normal T and B cell development. However, cytolytic functions of their splenic natural killer (NK) cells after stimulation with cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-12, IL-18, and IL-2 were significantly reduced as compared with those of control chimera NK cells. In addition, the ability of C/EBPγ(−/−) chimera splenocytes to produce interferon (IFN)-γ in response to IL-12 and/or IL-18 was markedly impaired. NK cells could be generated in vitro with normal surface marker expression in the presence of IL-15 from C/EBPγ(2/−) newborn spleen cells. However, they also showed lower cytotoxic activity and IFN-γ production when stimulated with IL-12 plus IL-18 than control NK cells, as observed in C/EBPγ(2/−) chimera splenocytes. In conclusion, our study reveals that C/EBPγ is a critical transcription factor involved in the functional maturation of NK cells.