The Detection of NK Cell Alloreactivity by Flow Cytometric CD107a Assay

Natural killer (NK) cell alloreactivity can be exploited in haploidentical (one haplotype mismatched) haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) to prevent leukaemia relapse, rejection, and graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) (Blood 94:333–339; Science 295:2097–2100). If NK cell alloreactivity is to be exploited in HSCT, it is important to be able to reliably select donors who have NK alloreactivity towards the patient. The detection of donor NK alloreactivity towards patient target cells has traditionally been evaluated by NK cell cloning and ⁵¹ Cr-release cytotoxicity assay. This approach is complex and time consuming with results taking up to 6 weeks. Here, we detail a novel flow cytometric CD107a-based assay capable of detecting NK cell alloreactivity in 14 days.