NK cells within the pancreas proliferate at a higher rate than NK cells in the periphery.

Abstract

<p>Plots shown are gated on NKp46⁺ TCRβ⁻ lymphocytes day 3 after daily injections of 200 µg BrdU. A) NK cells from NOD mice incorporate BrdU at a higher rate than T cells in the same tissue. B) A higher frequency of NK cells in the pancreas are proliferating compared to NK cells in the spleen of NOD mice, relative to the same comparison of T cells in the pancreas and spleen. Bar graph of three NOD mice in one experiment C) The higher proliferation of pancreatic NK cells in NOD mice is dependent on the presence of adaptive immunity as pancreatic NK cells in <i>Rag2^−/−</i> NOD mice did not incorporate more BrdU than splenic or liver NK cells. D) Bar graph of three <i>Rag2^−/−</i> NOD mice. In some cases mice were pooled to obtain sufficient numbers of NK cells. One representative experiment of three independent experiments is shown.</p