AUTHOR=Yao Baige , Yang Qinglan , Yang Yao , Li Yana , Peng Hongyan , Wu Shuting , Wang Lili , Zhang Shuju , Huang Minghui , Wang Erqiang , Xiong Peiwen , Luo Ting , Li Liping , Jia Sujie , Deng Yafei , Deng Youcai TITLE=Screening for Active Compounds Targeting Human Natural Killer Cell Activation Identifying Daphnetin as an Enhancer for IFN-γ Production and Direct Cytotoxicity JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology VOLUME=12 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.680611 DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2021.680611 ISSN=1664-3224 ABSTRACT=

Natural killer (NK) cells are a potent weapon against tumor and viral infection. Finding active compounds with the capacity of enhancing NK cell effector functions will be effective to develop new anti-cancer drugs. In this study, we initially screened 287 commercially available active compounds by co-culturing with peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). We found that five compounds, namely, Daphnetin, MK-8617, LW6, JIB-04, and IOX1, increased the IFN-γ+ NK cell ratio in the presence of IL-12. Further studies using purified human primary NK cells revealed that Daphnetin directly promoted NK cell IFN-γ production in the presence of IL-12 but not IL-15, while the other four compounds acted on NK cells indirectly. Daphnetin also improved the direct cytotoxicity of NK cells against tumor cells in the presence of IL-12. Through RNA-sequencing, we found that PI3K-Akt-mTOR signaling acted as a central pathway in Daphnetin-mediated NK cell activation in the presence of IL-12. This was further confirmed by the finding that both inhibitors of PI3K-Akt and its main downstream signaling mTOR, LY294002, and rapamycin, respectively, can reverse the increase of IFN-γ production and cytotoxicity in NK cells promoted by Daphnetin. Collectively, we identify a natural product, Daphnetin, with the capacity of promoting human NK cell activation via PI3K-Akt-mTOR signaling in the presence of IL-12. Our current study opens up a new potential application for Daphnetin as a complementary immunomodulator for cancer treatments.