Human natural killer cell development from bone marrow progenitors: analysis of phenotype, cytotoxicity and growth.

We have developed a culture system allowing for generation of NK cells from human CD34+ bone marrow progenitors. The appearance of NK cells expressing CD56+, CD3- phenotype and large granular lymphocyte morphology was observed after 2-3 weeks of culture with IL-2. The NK cell appearance coincided with development of lytic activity. NK cells generated in bone marrow cultures proliferated actively (expansion index ranged from 2- to 200-fold). The phenotype of NK cells generated from CD34+ bone marrow deviated from peripheral blood NK cells in that a lower percentage of the former cells expressed CD16, CD2, CD7, and CD8 antigens. NK cells were also generated from CD34+ populations depleted of the CD34+, CD33+ subset indicating that myeloid-committed progenitors are not required for NK cell development. The dose of IL-2 was not important for generation of NK cells; however, only high doses of IL-2 supported development of optimal NK cell cytotoxic potential. Addition of TNF-alpha facilitated IL-2-dependent NK cell generation. These data showed that NK cells can develop from early bone marrow progenitors and that this system may be instrumental in studies on NK cell lineage and differentiation.