Figure 4: IL-12 induces expansion of eNK cells in the BM via an alternative developmental pathway.

(a) tSNE dimensions 1 and 2 for CD45⁺Lin⁻CD122⁺ cells derived from the BM of Ctrl- or IL-12-treated WT or Rag2^−/−Il2rg^−/− mice. (b) Annotated t-SNE maps depicting CD27, CD11b, NK1.1, CD49b, NKp46 and KLRG1 in the six identified clusters. (c) Heat map summary of average median expression of each cellular marker analysed for six clusters. (d) Adoptively transferred splenic CD45⁺CD3⁻CD122⁺CD49b⁺NK1.1⁺ and CD45⁺CD3⁻CD122⁺CD49b⁺NK1.1^low cells into Rag2^−/−Il2rg^−/− mice were analysed in lungs at day 7 after transfer for expression levels of NK1.1. Two independent experiments were performed. (e) Quantification of NKPs and eNK cells in the BM of Ctrl- or IL-12-treated WT and Rag2^−/−Il2rg^−/− mice. Data are pooled from two independent experiments. (f) Quantification of CLPs and pre-NKPs in the BM of Ctrl- or IL-12-treated WT and Rag2^−/−Il2rg^−/− mice. Data are pooled from two independent experiments. Each dot represents one mouse. Data are expressed as mean±s.e.m. *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001 (unpaired Student’s t-test with Welch’s correction).