Porcine UL16-binding protein 1 expressed on the surface of endothelial cells triggers human NK cytotoxicity through NKG2D

Cellular rejection mechanisms, including NK cells, remain a hurdle for successful pig-to-human xenotransplantation. Human anti-pig NK cytotoxicity depends on the activating receptor NKG2D. Porcine UL16-binding protein 1 (pULBP1) and porcine MHC class I chain-related protein 2 (pMIC2) are homologues of the human NKG2D ligands ULBP 1-4 and MICA and B, respectively. Although transcribed in porcine endothelial cells (pEC), it is not known whether pULBP1 and pMIC2 act as functional ligands for human NKG2D. In this study, surface protein expression of pULBP1 was demonstrated by flow cytometry using a novel pULBP1-specific polyclonal Ab and by cellular ELISA using NKG2D-Fc fusion protein. Reciprocally, pULBP1-Fc bound to primary human NK cells, whereas pMIC2-Fc did not. Transient and stable down-regulation of pULBP1 mRNA in pEC using short-interfering RNA oligonucleotide duplexes and short hairpin RNA, respectively, resulted in a partial inhibition of xenogeneic NK cytotoxicity through NKG2D in (51)Cr release assays. In contrast, down-regulation of pMIC2 mRNA did not inhibit NK cytotoxicity. Human NK cytotoxicity against pEC mediated by freshly isolated or IL-2-activated NK cells through NKG2D was completely blocked using anti-pULBP1 polyclonal Ab. In conclusion, this study suggests that pULBP1 is the predominant, if not only, functional porcine ligand for human NKG2D. Thus, the elimination of pULBP1 on porcine tissues represents an attractive target to protect porcine xenografts from human NK cytotoxicity.