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Single-cell RNA sequencing identifies a population of human liver-type ILC1s.

Cell reports

Authors: Benjamin Krämer, Ansel P Nalin, Feiyang Ma, Sarah Eickhoff, Philipp Lutz, Sonia Leonardelli, Felix Goeser, Claudia Finnemann, Gudrun Hack, Jan Raabe, Michael ToVinh, Sarah Ahmad, Christoph Hoffmeister, Kim M Kaiser, Steffen Manekeller, Vittorio Branchi, Tobias Bald, Michael Hölzel, Robert Hüneburg, Hans Dieter Nischalke, Alexander Semaan, Bettina Langhans, Dominik J Kaczmarek, Brooke Benner, Matthew R Lordo, Jesse Kowalski, Adam Gerhardt, Jörg Timm, Marieta Toma, Raphael Mohr, Andreas Türler, Arthur Charpentier, Tobias van Bremen, Georg Feldmann, Arne Sattler, Katja Kotsch, Ali T Abdallah, Christian P Strassburg, Ulrich Spengler, William E Carson, Bethany L Mundy-Bosse, Matteo Pellegrini, Timothy E O'Sullivan, Aharon G Freud, Jacob Nattermann

Group 1 innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) comprise a heterogeneous family of cytotoxic natural killer (NK) cells and ILC1s. We identify a population of "liver-type" ILC1s with transcriptional, phenotypic, and functional features distinct from those of conventional and liver-resident NK cells as well as from other previously described human ILC1 subsets. LT-ILC1s are CD49aCD94CD200R1, express the transcription factor T-BET, and do not express the activating receptor NKp80 or the transcription factor EOMES. Similar to NK cells, liver-type ILC1s produce IFN-γ, TNF-α, and GM-CSF; however, liver-type ILC1s also produce IL-2 and lack perforin and granzyme-B. Liver-type ILC1s are expanded in cirrhotic liver tissues, and they can be produced from blood-derived ILC precursors in vitro in the presence of TGF-β1 and liver sinusoidal endothelial cells. Cells with similar signature and function can also be found in tonsil and intestinal tissues. Collectively, our study identifies and classifies a population of human cross-tissue ILC1s.

Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

PMID: 36640314

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