Comparative transcriptomics of porcine conventional blood NK cells, conventional liver NK cells and liver resident NK cells

Liver-resident NK (lrNK) cells have been studied in human as well as in mice. In the current study, we compared the transcriptome of three porcine NK cell populations: CD8ahigh cNK cells from peripheral blood, CD8ahigh NK cells isolated from the liver and the liver-specific CD8adim NK cells using RNA-seq, to gain new insights in the biology of these cells. Overall, our data indicate that lrNK cells show an immature and anti-inflammatory phenotype. We also observed that the CD8ahigh NK cell population present in the liver appears to represent a population with an intermediate phenotype. While the transcriptome of these cells largely overlaps with that of cNK cells, they also express transcripts associated with liver residency, such as CXCR6. Overall design: We isolated porcine blood NK cells through MACS and FACS purification of porcine PBMC. Porcine conventional liver NK cells and porcine liver-resident NK cells were obtained by flushing the portal vein of the liver with PBS, followed by isolation of lymphocytes from the collected flush fluid and purification via MACS and FACS as was done for the blood NK cells.