CyTOF for NK cell phenotyping in atopic dermatitis

The purpose of this study was to detect phenotypic alterations in peripheral blood NK cells of patients with atopic dermatitis (AD). AD patients were found to have significantly reduced peripheral blood NK cells in clinical laboratory testing. Therefore, we hypothesized that multidimensional phenotypic analysis of their NK cells compared to non-AD controls would provide insight into underlying dysregulated processes leading to reduced numbers. We also measured these populations in paired samples taken from patients before and after treatment with dupilumab, an anti-IL-4ra monoclonal antibody used to treat moderate-to-severe AD> Conclusion: AD-associated NK cells have an altered distribution of multidimensional clusters by viSNE. Phenotypic gating revealed a reduction in a mature NK cell subpopulation and an increase in a non-classical population we termed NCR-. Additionally, we found that these populations changed observed in AD patients compared to controls were reversed after AD patients were treated with dupliumab. A machine control was used in each CyTOF run (Labeled MC0067).