Enhancement of the anticancer ability of natural killer cells through allogeneic mitochondrial transfer

Conventional natural killer (NK)-based anticancer immunotherapy has a limitation in that a culture period of approximately 2 weeks is required to increase the number and activity of NK cells. In addition, the anticancer activity of NK cells is closely associated with their mitochondrial function. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether the NK-anticancer activity increased after transferring allogeneic mitochondria into NK cells. Using this method, NK cells with enhanced anticancer activity can be produced without in vitro culture and can be used for anticancer treatment. Total RNA from NK-92MI cells was isolated and hybridized on Affymetrix microarrays. The isolated mitochondria were transferred to the NK cells and compared to control NK cells.