Natural killer cells promote the differentiation of follicular helper T cells instead of inducing apoptosis in myasthenia gravis

Abstract

Recent evidence has shown that natural killer (NK) cells have an immunoregulatory function in the pathogenesis of myasthenia gravis (MG). In this study, the phenotype and function of NK cell subsets in peripheral blood of new-onset MG (N-MG) and stable MG (S-MG) patients were explored. Circulating CD56^dim and CD56^bright NK cells were increased and decreased, respectively, in patients with N-MG and S-MG compared with healthy control (HC). Moreover, all circulating NK cell subsets from N-MG patients showed significantly lower expression of activating receptor NKG2D and production of Interferon (IFN) -γ than that from HC. The killing effects of NK cells on CD4⁺ T cells and Tfh cells were impaired in MG patients, whereas, they promoted the differentiation and activation of Tfh cells. These data indicated that the immune-regulation of NK cells on CD4⁺ T cells and Tfh cells in MG patients was abnormal, which may contribute to the immune-pathological mechanism of MG.

Keywords: Follicular helper T cells; Interferon-γ; Myasthenia gravis; NKG2D receptor; Natural killer cells.