The Role of O-Antigen in LPS-Induced Activation of Human NK Cells

NK cells can be stimulated by bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Unlike macrophages, human NK cells do not express or express very low level of surface TLR4 receptor normally required for the LPS stimulation. This has led to the assumption that the mechanisms of stimulating action of LPS on macrophages and NK cells differs. In this work, we investigated the effects of different forms of E. coli LPS, including mutants lacking O-antigen structures, and deacylated LPS on IFNγ production by purified human NK cells. The main findings were the following: (1) NK cells were more sensitive to the S-forms of LPS than the R-forms (LPS lacking O-antigen); (2) LPS triggered a significant increase in IFNγ production by NK cells in concentrations about 1000 times higher than those that can induce cytokine production by macrophages; (3) the composition and structure of saccharide part of LPS have a strong influence on its observed effects on NK cells; and (4) LPS fully retained the ability to trigger cytokine production in NK cells in serum-free media. The acquired data demonstrated that the presence and structure of O-antigen affects the LPS-induced activation of human NK cells.