Impact of an Immune Modulator Mycobacterium-w on Adaptive Natural Killer Cells and Protection Against COVID-19

Frontiers in Immunology

Anupama Mehta¹  Suparno Chakrabarti²  Gitali Bhagawati³  Sarita Rani Jaiswal⁴  Jaganath Arunachalam⁵  Rohit Lakhchaura⁶  Ashraf Saifullah⁶  Hemamalini Aiyer⁶  Dhanir Tailor⁷  Bakulesh Khamar⁸  Sanjay V. Malhotra⁸ 

[1] Cancer Biology and Center for Experimental Therapeutics, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health &Development, Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Ahmedabad, India;Science University, Portland, OR, United States;Amity Institute of Molecular Medicine and Stem Cell Research, Amity University, Noida, India;Cellular Therapy and Immunology, Manashi Chakrabarti Foundation, New Delhi, India;Department of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Dharamshila Narayana Super-Speciality Hospital, New Delhi, India;;Department of Cell, Development &Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Dharamshila Narayana Super-speciality Hospital, New Delhi, India;;Research &

关键词: Mw for COVID-19 Mycobacterium w (Mw);    COVID-19;    SARS-CoV-2;    innate immunity;    NKG2C;    adaptive NK cells;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fimmu.2022.887230

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The kinetics of NKG2C+ adaptive natural killer (ANK) cells and NKG2A+inhibitory NK (iNK) cells with respect to the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection were studied for 6 months in a cohort of healthcare workers following the administration of the heat-killed Mycobacterium w (Mw group) in comparison to a control group. In both groups, corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) correlated with lower NKG2C+ANK cells at baseline. There was a significant upregulation of NKG2C expression and IFN-γ release in the Mw group (p=0.0009), particularly in those with a lower baseline NKG2C expression, along with the downregulation of iNK cells (p<0.0001). This translated to a significant reduction in the incidence and severity of COVID-19 in the Mw group (incidence risk ratio-0.15, p=0.0004). RNA-seq analysis at 6 months showed an upregulation of the ANK pathway genes and an enhanced ANK-mediated antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) signature. Thus, Mw was observed to have a salutary impact on the ANK cell profile and a long-term upregulation of ANK-ADCC pathways, which could have provided protection against COVID-19 in a non-immune high-risk population.

【 授权许可】

Unknown