Effect of Natural Killer cells on the in vitro differentiation of monocytes into dendritic cells in cancer patients: study of the mechanisms involved

Abstract

Natural Killer cells (NK) although known for their cytotoxic capacity, have been studied in recent years recognizing their role as modulators of other immune cells. Dendritic cells (DCs) in turn, sentinels of the immune system and link between innate and adaptive immunity, are cells widely studied in our laboratory and used as therapeutic strategy in cancer patients. DCs differentiated from monocytes (Mo) derived from healthy individuals in the presence of NK cells exhibit phenotypic and functional improvements while Mo-DCs differentiated in the presence of soluble factors secreted by NK cells present detrimental of phenotype and function, suggesting that cells NK modulate the differentiation and function of Mo-DCs by mechanisms that are still unexplored. It was seen that Mo-DCs derived from patients with neoplasms exhibit functional deficiencies. After vaccination with the strategy implemented in our laboratory, monocytes recover their ability to differentiate into dendritic cells, but the mechanism by which this improvement occurs is still unknown. Therefore, the aim of this project is to investigate the mechanisms involved in the modulation by NK cells and their subpopulations, of the monocyte differentiation into DCs and study the phenomenon in the context of cancer: before and after therapeutic vaccination. (AU)