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Pontarini E, Sciacca E, Grigoriadou S, Rivellese F, Lucchesi D, Fossati-Jimack L, Coleby R, Chowdhury F, Calcaterra F, Tappuni A, Lewis MJ, Fabris M, Quartuccio L, Bella SD, Bowman S, Pitzalis C, Mavilio D, De Vita S, Bombardieri M. NKp30 Receptor Upregulation in Salivary Glands of Sjögren's Syndrome Characterizes Ectopic Lymphoid Structures and Is Restricted by Rituximab Treatment. Front Immunol 2021; 12:706737. [PMID: 34594326 PMCID: PMC8477027 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.706737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is a chronic autoimmune disease resulting from the inflammatory infiltration of exocrine glands, mainly salivary and lacrimal glands, leading to secretory dysfunction and serious complications including debilitating fatigue, systemic autoimmunity, and lymphoma. Like other autoimmune disorders, a strong interferon (IFN) signature is present among subsets of pSS patients, suggesting the involvement of innate immunity in pSS pathogenesis. NCR3/NKp30 is a natural killer (NK) cell-specific activating receptor regulating the cross talk between NK and dendritic cells including type II IFN secretion upon NK-cell activation. A genetic association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the NCR3/NKp30 promoter gene and a higher susceptibility for pSS has been previously described, with pSS patients most frequently carrying the major allele variant associated with a higher NKp30 transcript and IFN-γ release as a consequence of the receptor engagement. In the present study, we combined RNA-sequencing and histology from pSS salivary gland biopsies to better characterize NKp30 (NCR3) and its ligand B7/H6 (NCR3LG1) in pSS salivary gland tissues. Levels of NCR3/NKp30 were significantly increased both in salivary glands and in circulating NK cells of pSS patients compared with sicca controls, especially in salivary glands with organized ectopic lymphoid structures. In line with this observation, a strong correlation between NCR3/NKp30 levels and salivary gland infiltrating immune cells (CD3, CD20) was found. Furthermore, NCR3/NKp30 levels also correlated with higher IFN-γ, Perforin, and Granzyme-B expression in pSS SGs with organized ectopic lymphoid structures, suggesting an activation state of NK cells infiltrating SG tissue. Of note, NKp30+ NK cells accumulated at the border of the inflammatory foci, while the NKp30 ligand, B7/H6, is shown to be expressed mainly by ductal epithelial cells in pSS salivary glands. Finally, immunomodulatory treatment, such as the B-cell depleting agent rituximab, known to reduce the infiltration of immune cells in pSS SGs, prevented the upregulation of NCR3/NKp30 within the glands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Pontarini
- Centre for Experimental Medicine and Rheumatology, William Harvey Research Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Elisabetta Sciacca
- Centre for Experimental Medicine and Rheumatology, William Harvey Research Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Sofia Grigoriadou
- Centre for Experimental Medicine and Rheumatology, William Harvey Research Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Felice Rivellese
- Centre for Experimental Medicine and Rheumatology, William Harvey Research Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Davide Lucchesi
- Centre for Experimental Medicine and Rheumatology, William Harvey Research Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Liliane Fossati-Jimack
- Centre for Experimental Medicine and Rheumatology, William Harvey Research Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Rachel Coleby
- Centre for Experimental Medicine and Rheumatology, William Harvey Research Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Farzana Chowdhury
- Centre for Experimental Medicine and Rheumatology, William Harvey Research Institute, London, United Kingdom
- Institute of Dentistry, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, United Kingdom
| | - Francesca Calcaterra
- Laboratory of Clinical and Experimental Immunology, Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, Italy
- Department of Medical Biotechnologies and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Anwar Tappuni
- Institute of Dentistry, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, United Kingdom
| | - Myles J. Lewis
- Centre for Experimental Medicine and Rheumatology, William Harvey Research Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Martina Fabris
- Istituto Di Patologia Clinica, Azienda Sanitaria Universitaria Integrata di Udine (ASUID), Udine, Italy
| | - Luca Quartuccio
- Clinic of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine (DAME), University of Udine, School of Rheumatology, Academic Hospital “Santa Maria della Misericordia”, Udine, Italy
| | - Silvia Della Bella
- Laboratory of Clinical and Experimental Immunology, Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, Italy
- Department of Medical Biotechnologies and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Simon Bowman
- National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Birmingham National Health System (NHS) Foundation Trust, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Costantino Pitzalis
- Centre for Experimental Medicine and Rheumatology, William Harvey Research Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Domenico Mavilio
- Laboratory of Clinical and Experimental Immunology, Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, Italy
- Department of Medical Biotechnologies and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Salvatore De Vita
- Clinic of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine (DAME), University of Udine, School of Rheumatology, Academic Hospital “Santa Maria della Misericordia”, Udine, Italy
| | - Michele Bombardieri
- Centre for Experimental Medicine and Rheumatology, William Harvey Research Institute, London, United Kingdom
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