AUTHOR=Horwitz David A. , Liu Aijing , Bickerton Sean , Castaldo Giuseppe , Matarese Giuseppe , Fahmy Tarek M. , La Cava Antonio 

TITLE=Anti-CD2 Antibody-Coated Nanoparticles Containing IL-2 Induce NK Cells That Protect Lupus Mice via a TGF-β-Dependent Mechanism

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2020.583338

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2020.583338

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p>We recently reported that the treatment with nanoparticles (NPs) loaded with tolerogenic cytokines suppressed the manifestations of lupus-like disease induced by the transfer of donor CD4<sup>+</sup> T cells from DBA/2 mice into (C57BL/6 × DBA/2)F<sub>1</sub> (BDF1) mice. Although the protective effects were ascribed to the induction of adaptive CD4<sup>+</sup> and CD8<sup>+</sup> T regulatory cells, the results suggested that another population of immune cells could be involved. Here we report that NK cells critically contribute to the protection from lupus-like disease conferred by NPs to BDF1 mice, and that this effect is TGF-β-dependent.</p>