Genesis of human oncolytic natural killer cells from primitive CD34+CD33- bone marrow progenitors

We have found that fully functional CD56+CD3- NK cells can be generated from highly enriched populations of CD34+ human bone marrow progenitors in long term bone marrow culture (LTBMC) with IL-2. Strong lytic activity against K-562 cells was observed after 2 to 3 weeks of culture and coincided with the appearance of CD56+CD3- large granular lymphocytes, which comprised 55 to 84% of cells. In contrast, lymphocytes generated from CD34- bone marrow cells were predominantly CD56-CD3+ T cells. The phenotypic profile of NK cells generated in LTBMC differed from that of IL-2-cultured peripheral blood NK cells. Specifically, a lower percentage of LTBMC-derived NK cells coexpressed CD16, CD2, CD7, and CD8 Ag. NK cells generated in LTMBC proliferated actively, with an expansion index ranging from two- to 200-fold. Furthermore, NK cells were generated from the CD34+CD33- hematopoietic subset, which had been depleted of the myeloid-committed progenitors (CD34+CD33+). Generation of cytotoxic NK cells in LTBMC was dependent on the dose of IL-2; although CD56+CD3- NK cells were generated in LTBMC supplemented with a broad range of doses (10 to 10(3) U/ml) of IL-2, the acquisition of full cytotoxic function required a high concentration of IL-2 (10(3) U/ml). These observations demonstrate the IL-2-driven differentiation of NK cells from early bone marrow progenitors and indicate that LTBMC may provide an excellent model for studies of NK cell lineage and differentiation in normal and pathologic conditions.