Limited response of NK92 cells to Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes

Mechanisms by which anti-malarial immune responses occur are still not fully clear. Natural killer (NK) cells are thought to play a pivotal role in innate responses against Plasmodium falciparum. In this study, the suitability of NK92 cells as models for the NK mechanisms involved in the immune response against malaria was investigated.

NK92 cells were assessed for several signs of activation and cytotoxicity due to contact to parasites and were as well examined by oligonucleotide microarrays for an insight on the impact P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes have on their transcriptome. To address the parasite side of such interaction, growth inhibition assays were performed including non-NK cells as controls.

By performing microarrays with NK92 cells, the impact of parasites on a transcriptional level was observed. The findings show that, although not evidently activated by iRBCs, NK92 cells show transcriptional signs of priming and proliferation. In addition, decreased parasitaemia was observed due to co-incubation with NK92 cells. However, such effect might not be NK-specific since irrelevant cells also affected parasite growth in vitro.

Although NK92 cells are here shown to behave as poor models for the NK immune response against parasites, the results obtained in this study may be of use for future investigations regarding host-parasites interactions in malaria.