Granulocyte-colony-stimulatory factor: a strong inhibitor of natural killer cell function

The human cytokine granulocyte-colony stimulatory factor (G-CSF) has found widespread application in the medical treatment of neutropenia and to mobilize hematopoietic stem cells used for transplantation. So far, the effect of G-CSF on natural killer (NK) cells has not been fully investigated.

The effect of G-CSF on the phenotype, cytokine secretion profile, and cytotoxicity of NK cells was assessed. NK cells incubated in vitro in presence of G-CSF for 48 hours as well as NK cells isolated from peripheral blood of G-CSF-mobilized stem cell donors (in vivo) were used.

In vitro, G-CSF caused a strongly altered phenotype in NK cells with 49% down regulation of NKp44 frequency. Furthermore, the expression of the activating receptors NKp46 and NKG2D decreased 40 and 64%, respectively. The expression of KIR2DL1 and KIR2DL2 decreased by 46% each. In cytotoxicity assays, the lytic capacity of G-CSF-exposed NK cells is reduced by up to 68% in vitro and up to 83% in vivo. Accordingly, granzyme B levels of in vivo G-CSF-exposed NK cells were reduced by up to 87% in comparison to nonstimulated NK cells. Cytokine production of in vitro and in vivo incubated NK cells was strongly decreased for interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α, and granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor as well as interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8. Furthermore, we observed a reduction in proliferation and a positive feedback loop that increased the expression of the G-CSF receptor.

G-CSF was demonstrated to be a strong inhibitor of NK cells activity and may prevent their graft-versus-leukemia effect after transplantation.