Hantaan virus-derived peptides that stabilize HLA-E could abrogate inhibition of CD56dimNKG2A+ NK cells.
NK cells could participate in the pathogenesis process of virus infectious diseases through the inhibitory receptor CD94/NKG2A interacting with HLA-E/virus-derived peptide complex. However, the effects and mechanisms of NKG2A-HLA-E axis-mediated NK cell responses in hemorrhagic fever with renal synd...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2025-07-01
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| Series: | PLoS Pathogens |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1012717 |
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| Summary: | NK cells could participate in the pathogenesis process of virus infectious diseases through the inhibitory receptor CD94/NKG2A interacting with HLA-E/virus-derived peptide complex. However, the effects and mechanisms of NKG2A-HLA-E axis-mediated NK cell responses in hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) caused by Hantaan virus (HTNV) infection remain unclear. Single-cell RNA sequencing and flow cytometry were employed to analyze the phenotype and function of different NK cell subsets in HFRS patients. The K562/HLA-E cells binding assay was used for peptide affinity detection. The binding capacity of HLA-E/peptide-CD94/NKG2A was detected using ligand-receptor binding assay and tetramer staining. The cytotoxicity assay of NK cells against peptide-pulsed K562/HLA-E cells was conducted for functional evaluation. In this study, CD56dimCD16+NKG2A+ NK cells were the main subset in HFRS patients, showing activation and proliferation phenotypes with NKG2C-CD57- and the ability to secrete tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and cytotoxic mediators. Notably, none of the four identified HTNV epitopes presented by HLA-E could be recognized by CD94/NKG2A on CD56dimNKG2A+ NK cells. Furthermore, the subset of CD56dimNKG2A+ NK cells showed the enhanced cytolytic capacity against HTNV peptide pulsed K562/HLA-E cells ex vivo. Taken together, the findings demonstrate that HTNV-derived peptides presented by HLA-E could "abrogate" the inhibition of CD56dimNKG2A+ NK cells, contributing to the antiviral immune response in HFRS patients. |
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| ISSN: | 1553-7366 1553-7374 |