Journal: Cell Reports Medicine

Article Title: HIV tri-specific killer engagers directly enhance NK cell function and safely expand NK cells in vivo

doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2026.102847

Figure Lengend Snippet: TriKE binds CD16 + NK cells and induces NK cell proliferation and activation (A–C) Schematic of the human VRC (A) and CD4 (B) TriKEs and the rhesusized CD4 (C) TriKE. (D) Whole PBMCs from PWOH (black, n = 3) and PWH (red, n = 3) were incubated with or without TriKE (10 nM), and NK cells (live CD56 + CD3 − ) were assessed for CD16 expression and bound TriKE (anti-His) by flow cytometry. (E–I) Whole PBMCs from PWOH (black, n = 5) and PWH (red, n = 5) were CellTrace labeled and cultured with listed treatments for 7 days, and (E) CD56 + CD3 − NK cell proliferation (CTB dilution) and activation by CD38 (F), HLA-DR (G), CD69 (H), and CD57 (I) was assessed by flow cytometry. NT, no treatment, IL-15 (10 nM), TriKEs (10 nM). Statistical assessment was performed with a matched repeated measures two-way ANOVA with a Geisser-Greenhouse correction. Multiple comparisons were controlled for by a Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test. Each dot represents a unique donor, and error bars represent mean ± SEM.

Article Snippet: To quantify biological activity of the recombinant human (rH) and TriKE contained IL-15, HEK-Blue IL-2/IL-15 cells (InvivoGen, Cat# hkb-il2-2) were utilized as reporter cells.

Techniques: Activation Assay, Incubation, Expressing, Flow Cytometry, Labeling, Cell Culture

Journal: Cell Reports Medicine

Article Title: HIV tri-specific killer engagers directly enhance NK cell function and safely expand NK cells in vivo

doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2026.102847

Figure Lengend Snippet: HIV TriKEs mediate enhanced NK cell function and killing of HIV-infected cells Primary human PBMCs were co-cultured with CellTrace-labeled HIV-uninfected (A3, blue diamonds), productively infected (8E5, red circles), or latent HIV (ACH-2, green squares) or no targets (PB alone, black triangles) at an E:T of 2:1 with listed treatments. After 5 h, NK cells were evaluated for CD107a (A and B), IFN-γ (C and D), and TNF-α (E and F) expression and killing of target cells (G and H) by flow cytometry. NT, no treatment, IL-15 (10 nM), VRC01 bNab (10 μg/mL), TriKEs (10 nM). Statistical assessment was performed with a matched repeated measures two-way ANOVA with a Geisser-Greenhouse correction. Multiple comparisons were controlled for by a Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test. Data are represented as mean ± SEM. ∗ p < 0.05, ∗∗ p < 0.005, ∗∗∗ p < 0.0005. N = 5 for each PWOH and PWH.

Article Snippet: To quantify biological activity of the recombinant human (rH) and TriKE contained IL-15, HEK-Blue IL-2/IL-15 cells (InvivoGen, Cat# hkb-il2-2) were utilized as reporter cells.

Techniques: Cell Function Assay, Infection, Cell Culture, Labeling, Expressing, Flow Cytometry

Journal: Cell Reports Medicine

Article Title: HIV tri-specific killer engagers directly enhance NK cell function and safely expand NK cells in vivo

doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2026.102847

Figure Lengend Snippet: CD38 + CD57 + NK cells exhibit the greatest polyfunctional response mediated by HIV-targeting TriKEs against 8E5 HIV-infected cells Polyfunctional NK cell responses were assessed by co-expression of CD38, CD57, CD107a, IFN-γ, and TNF-α and analyzed using SPICE (Simplified Presentation of Incredibly Complex Evaluations). Whole PBMCs from HIV− (A–E) and HIV+ (F–J) donors were co-cultured with 8E5 target cells at a ratio of 2:1 and either left untreated or treated with 10 nM IL-15 (A and F), 10 μg/mL VRC01 bNAb (B and G), IL-15+bNAb (C and H), 10 nM VRC TriKE (D and I), or 10 nM CD4 TriKE (E and J). A Wilcoxon rank-sum test was run to assess statistical differences between each condition compared to the IL-15 control. (K–N) Bar plots showing polyfunctional NK cell responses (CD107a+IFN-γ+TNF-α+) within NK cell subsets that are CD38 + CD57 + (K), CD38 + CD57 − (L), CD38 − CD57 + (M), and CD38 − CD57 − (N). Each dot represents a unique donor, and error bars represent mean ± SEM. N = 5 for each PWOH and PWH.

Article Snippet: To quantify biological activity of the recombinant human (rH) and TriKE contained IL-15, HEK-Blue IL-2/IL-15 cells (InvivoGen, Cat# hkb-il2-2) were utilized as reporter cells.

Techniques: Infection, Expressing, Cell Culture, Control