Axl/Gas6 pathway participates in human natural killer cell development by positively regulating FLT3 activation

Activation of the fibromyalgia syndrome-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) by its ligand, FLT3 ligand (FL), strongly augments the development of natural killer (NK) cells from human CD34⁺ hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) in the presence of IL-15, compared with NK-cell development in the presence of IL-15 alone. In this study, we observed that blocking the receptor tyrosine kinase Axl/Gas6 pathway with a soluble Axl-IgG1 Fc fusion protein (Axl-Fc) in the presence of FL significantly diminished the absolute number of CD3⁻ CD56⁺ NK cells derived from human CD34⁺ HPCs. Axl-Fc reduced the expression levels of the IL-2/15 receptor β chain (CD122) and γ chain (CD132) induced by activation of FLT3 and consequently reduced the frequency of NK precursor cells responding to IL-15. Furthermore, Axl-Fc diminished FL-induced FLT3 phosphorylation and impeded the physical interaction between Axl and FLT3 in CD34⁺ HPCs. Collectively, our data suggest that the Axl/Gas6 pathway contributes to normal human NK-cell development at least in part via its positive regulatory effect on FLT3 signaling in CD34⁺ HPCs.