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Updated: Aug 9, 2026

A Novel Feeder-free System for Mass Production of Murine Natural Killer Cells In Vitro
Published on: January 9, 2018
Human NK cell IFN-gamma production is regulated by endogenous TGF-beta
Sarah K Meadows1, Mikael Eriksson, Amorette Barber
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Dartmouth Medical School, 6W Borwell Bldg, One Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH 03756, USA.
Abstract:
NK cells are an important component of innate immunity, and they can promote CTL and Th1 cell development and macrophage activation via cytokines. TGF-beta is believed to be an important immunoregulatory molecule, and for this reason several TGF-beta inhibitors are currently in clinical development. However, the modulation of specific innate immune responses by endogenous human TGF-beta remains unclear. In this study, we demonstrate that blocking the action of endogenous TGF-beta resulted in an increase in both the percentage of responding NK cells and the amount of IFN-gamma produced by human NK cells when stimulated by monokines and TLR agonists. Blocking endogenous TGF-beta resulted in significant NK cell IFN-gamma production under suboptimal stimulation conditions. Our findings also suggest that TGF-beta associated with other blood cells may be involved in limiting NK cell activation. Thus, inhibiting endogenous TGF-beta provides a means to shift NK cell activation and promote cellular immunity.
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