Early Responses of Natural Killer Cells in Pigs Experimentally Infected with 2009 Pandemic H1N1 Influenza A Virus

Natural killer (NK) cells are important players in the innate immune response against influenza A virus and the activating receptor NKp46, which binds hemagglutinin on the surface of infected cells, has been assigned a role in this context. As pigs are natural hosts for influenza A viruses and pigs possess both NKp46(−) and NKp46(+) NK cells, they represent a good animal model for studying the role of the NKp46 receptor during influenza. We explored the role of NK cells in piglets experimentally infected with 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus by flow cytometric analyses of cells isolated from blood and lung tissue and by immunostaining of lung tissue sections. The number of NKp46(+) NK cells was reduced while NKp46(−) NK cells remained unaltered in the blood 1–3 days after infection. In the lungs, the intensity of NKp46 expression on NK cells was increased during the first 3 days, and areas where influenza virus nucleoprotein was detected were associated with increased numbers of NKp46(+) NK cells when compared to uninfected areas. NKp46(+) NK cells in the lung were neither found to be infected with influenza virus nor to be undergoing apoptosis. The binding of porcine NKp46 to influenza virus infected cells was verified in an in vitro assay. These data support the involvement of porcine NKp46(+) NK cells in the local immune response against influenza virus.