Single-cell RNA profiling of human bone marrow Natural Killer cells from healthy donors and from acute myeloid leukemia patients

We report here the identification, by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq), of three subpopulations of NK cells in human bone marrow. Pseudotime analysis identified a subset of resident CD56bright NK cells, NK0 cells, as the precursor of both circulating CD56dim NK1-like NK cells and CD56bright NK2-like in the human bone marrow and spleen at steady state. Transcriptomic profiles of bone marrow NK cells from patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) showed a stress-induced repression of NK cell effector functions, highlighting the profound impact of the disease on NK cell heterogeneity. Bone marrow NK cells from AML patients exhibited reduced levels of CD160 but the CD160high group had a significantly higher survival rate. single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq), of three subpopulations of NK cells in human bone marrow.