{"id":41388,"date":"2025-08-24T23:47:51","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T21:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/2025\/08\/24\/cd20-natural-killer-cells-are-polyfunctional-memory-like-cells-that-are-enriched-in-inflammatory-disorders\/"},"modified":"2025-08-24T23:47:51","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T21:47:51","slug":"cd20-natural-killer-cells-are-polyfunctional-memory-like-cells-that-are-enriched-in-inflammatory-disorders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/2025\/08\/24\/cd20-natural-killer-cells-are-polyfunctional-memory-like-cells-that-are-enriched-in-inflammatory-disorders\/","title":{"rendered":"CD20+ natural killer cells are polyfunctional, memory-like cells that are enriched in inflammatory disorders"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><b>J Immunol<\/b>. 2025 Aug 24:vkaf205. doi: 10.1093\/jimmun\/vkaf205. Online ahead of print.<\/p>\n<p><b>ABSTRACT<\/b><\/p>\n<p>While CD20 was initially characterized as a B cell-specific marker, its expression on memory T cells has expanded our understanding of this molecule&#8217;s distribution and function. Here, we identify a previously unrecognized CD20-expressing NK cell population and demonstrate its functional significance. CD56+CD20+ NK cells exhibit hallmarks of cellular activation, including elevated NKp46, CD69, and CD137 expression, enhanced proliferative capacity, and increased production of inflammatory cytokines (IFN-\u03b3, GM-CSF, TNF-\u03b1, IL-10). Functional analyses revealed enhanced cytotoxicity against K562 targets, correlating with increased expression of cytolytic mediators including granzymes A, B, and K, perforin, FASL, and TRAIL. Single-cell transcriptional profiling demonstrated that MS4A1-expressing NK cells possess a distinct molecular signature characterized by elevated granzyme K expression and memory-like features. These cells preferentially localize to secondary lymphoid organs and accumulate in inflammatory tissues. Notably, CD56+CD20+ NK cells are enriched in multiple inflammatory conditions, including multiple sclerosis, autoimmune hepatitis, hepatitis B infection, hepatocellular carcinoma, and lung cancer. Treatment with rituximab depletes this population, suggesting potential therapeutic implications. Our findings establish CD20+ NK cells as a functionally distinct lymphocyte subset with enhanced effector capabilities and tissue-homing properties, providing new insights into immune regulation in inflammatory diseases.<\/p>\n<p>PMID:<a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/40849886\/?utm_source=SimplePie&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_content=2985117R&amp;ff=20250824174748&amp;v=2.18.0.post9+e462414\">40849886<\/a> | DOI:<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/jimmun\/vkaf205\">10.1093\/jimmun\/vkaf205<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>J Immunol. 2025 Aug 24:vkaf205. doi: 10.1093\/jimmun\/vkaf205. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT While CD20 was initially characterized as a B cell-specific marker, its expression on memory T cells has expanded our understanding of this molecule&#8217;s distribution and function. Here, we identify a previously unrecognized CD20-expressing NK cell population and demonstrate its functional significance. CD56+CD20+ NK &#8230; <a title=\"CD20+ natural killer cells are polyfunctional, memory-like cells that are enriched in inflammatory disorders\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/2025\/08\/24\/cd20-natural-killer-cells-are-polyfunctional-memory-like-cells-that-are-enriched-in-inflammatory-disorders\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about CD20+ natural killer cells are polyfunctional, memory-like cells that are enriched in inflammatory disorders\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-publicaciones","category-the-journal-of-immunology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41388\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}