Identification of the CD16low CD56low CD38pos Natural Killer Cell as a Key Subset in Patients with Multiple Myeloma.

Background: Natural killer (NK) cells are classified as innate immune cells which can directly recognize and kill tumor cells without antigen sensitization. NK cell-based adoptive immunotherapy for blood malignancies has attracted more attention in recent years.

Objective: To analyze different NK cell subsets in the peripheral blood and bone marrow (BM) of patients with multiple myeloma (MM).

Methods: Using flow cytometry we analyzed: (i) the distribution of distinct NK cell subpopulations (i.e. CD16low CD56low, CD16pos CD56high, CD16neg CD56high, CD16high CD56low, CD16neg CD56low, CD16low CD56low CD38pos) in the BM from MM patients at distinct disease stages. (ii) the expression of NKG2D, DNAM-1 and NKp30, and (iii) the expression of CD107a in CD16low CD56low CD38pos and CD16low CD56low CD38neg NK cells subsets.

Results: CD16low CD56low CD38pos was the dominant subset in BM from patients with MM at the CR stage with a decreased expression of NKp30. CD16low CD56low CD38pos subset showed a higher proportion of CD107a expression compared to CD16low CD56low CD38neg cells. In vitro experiments indicated that the CD16low CD56low CD38pos NK cell subset possesses more cytotoxicity than CD16low CD56low CD38neg NK cells.

Conclusion: Our data suggest that CD16low CD56low CD38pos NK cells may reflect as an effector population with the potential therapeutic target in patients with MM. This group of cells may be useful for adoptive immunotherapy in MM in the future.