In the present study, we investigated the inhibitory natural killer cell receptor (NKR) expression of CD94/NKG2A on PBMC after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). The proportion of CD94 expression on PBMC was higher in patients without chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) and also in cGVHD patients with good response to conventional immunosuppressive therapy than in cGVHD patients with poor response. Also, the proportions of CD94+/CD3+ cells and CD94+/CD8+ cells were higher in cGVHD patients showing good response. In addition, the proportion of NKG2A-expressing cells was higher in patients without cGVHD than in patients with cGVHD. Therefore, chronic allostimulation after allo-BMT may augment the proportion of CD94/NKG2A-positive cells, and these cells may play some role in the regulation of alloresponse in some patients.

Keywords:
Bone marrow transplantation, CD94, Graft versus host disease, Graft versus leukemia, Killer cell inhibitory receptor
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© 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel
2001
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