Antigen-specific NK cell memory in rhesus macaques

Natural killer (NK) cells have traditionally been considered nonspecific components of innate immunity, but recent studies have shown features of antigen-specific memory in mouse NK cells. However, it has remained unclear whether this phenomenon also exists in primates. We found that splenic and hepatic NK cells from SHIVSF162p3-infected and SIVmac251-infected macaques specifically lysed Gag- and Env-pulsed dendritic cells in an NKG2-dependent fashion, in contrast to NK cells from uninfected macaques. Moreover, splenic and hepatic NK cells from Ad26-vaccinated macaques efficiently lysed antigen-matched but not antigen-mismatched targets 5 years after vaccination. These data demonstrate that robust, durable, antigen-specific NK cell memory can be induced in primates after both infection and vaccination, and this finding could be important for the development of vaccines against HIV-1 and other pathogens.