Study of the roles of innate immunity on acute and chronic hepatitis C by a novel non-human primate model

我们旨在通过一种新的非人类灵长类动物模型阐明先天免疫在急性和慢性丙型肝炎中的作用。首先，我们建立了绢毛猴NK细胞活性的定量体系。然后，我们发现抗CD16单克隆抗体3G8以50mg/kg的剂量静脉注射到绢毛猴成功地减少了CD16+ NK细胞，这与NK细胞介导的细胞毒性的降低是一致的。值得注意的是，从CD16+ NK细胞缺失的绢毛猴获得的血液中观察到NK活性降低但可检测到的水平，这表明存在少量CD16-NK亚群。利用我们建立的这些检测系统，我们正在分析CD16+ NK细胞对GBV-B（与丙型肝炎病毒密切相关，属于肝炎病毒属）复制动力学的作用，以及病毒感染的绢毛猴的抗病毒获得性免疫反应。在此基础上，我们希望在不久的将来详细研究NK细胞在控制肝炎病毒持续性方面的作用。

We aimed to clarify the role of innate immunity during acute and chronic hepatitis C by a novel non-human primate model. First of all, we established a quantification system of NK cell activity of tamarins. We then found that the intravenous administration of an anti-CD16 monoclonal antibody 3G8 at a dose of 50mg/kg to tamarins successfully depleted CD16+ NK cells, which was consistent with the reduction of NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity. It is notable that lowered but detectable levels of NK activity were observed in the blood obtained from the CD16+ NK cell-depleted tamarins, indicating the presence of a minor CD16-NK subpopulation. By using these assay systems we established, analyses of the roles of the CD16+ NK cells on dynamics of the replication of GBV-B, which is closely related to hepatitis C virus and is classified in genus hepachivirus, and antiviral acquired immune responses in the virus-infected tamarins are now ongoing. On the basis of the results obtained, we would like to examine in detail regarding the roles of NK cells on the control of persistency of the hepatitis virus in near future.