In vivo evidence for a dependence on interleukin 15 for survival of natural killer cells

Cellular homeostasis requires a balance between cell production, cell survival, and cell death. Production of natural killer (NK) cells from bone marrow precursor cells requires Interleukin 15 (IL-15); however, very little is known about the factors controlling survival of mature NK cells in vivo. Because mice deficient in IL-15 (IL-15(-/-) mice) fall to develop NK cells, it is not known whether mature NK cells can survive in an environment lacking IL-15. We hypothesized that IL-15 might indeed be required for survival of mature NK cells In vivo, Freshly isolated NK cells labeled with 5-(and-6)-carboxyfluorescein diacetate, succinimidyl ester (CFSE) were adoptively transferred into IL-15(-/-) mice and littermate control (IL-15(+/-)) mice. Within 36 hours after transfer, NK cells were detected in both IL-15(-/-) and IL-15(+/-) mice; however, significantly more (P<.003) CFSE-positive (CFSE+) NK cells were found in control mice than in IL-15(-/-) mice. By 5 days, similar numbers of CFSE+ NK cells were still easily detected in IL-15(+/-) mice, whereas no CFSE+ NK cells survived in IL-15(-/-) mice. Furthermore, mice with severe combined immunodeficiency treated with the Fab fragment of a blocking antibody recognizing a signaling subunit of the IL-15 receptor, IL-2/15PR beta, had a significant (similar to 90%) loss of NK cells compared with control mice. Finally, NK cells from Bcl-2 transgenic mice that were adoptively transferred into IL-15(-/-) mice did survive. These results show conclusively that IL-15 is required for mature NK cell survival in vivo and suggest that IL-15 mediates its effect on NK cell survival by means of Bcl-2.