Sesamolin promotes cytolysis and migration activity of natural killer cells via dendritic cells

The defense mechanism of the immune system is based on the interaction of many kinds of leukocytes. Among them, dendritic cells (DCs) control most immune responses. In our previous study, sesamolin was shown to create an optimal environment for natural killer (NK) cells to kill cancer cells. Here we attempted to demonstrate how sesamolin influences DCs to promote the killing and migration activity of NK cells. We co-cultured DCs and NK cells and analyzed the communication between them. NK cells co-cultured with 5 mu g/ml sesamolin-treated mature dendritic cells (mDCs) had better cytolytic activity than did NK cells or mDCs co-cultured NK cells. Moreover, the migration of NK cells toward mDCs was enhanced compared to immature dendritic cells (iDCs). The migration of NK cells stimulated by mDCs was stronger after sesamolin activation of the mDCs. Altogether, this study demonstrated that sesamolin activated NK cells by modulating the differentiation and activation of DCs.