{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,29]],"date-time":"2026-10-29T19:31:46Z","timestamp":1793302306944,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"10","funder":[{"name":"Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc","award":["10112-22"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["10112-22"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00bardy64","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100012728","name":"Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100012728","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000002","name":"National Institutes of health","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["75N91019D00024"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["75N91019D00024"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000002","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Defense Health Program","award":["HU00012020067"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["HU00012020067"]}]},{"name":"Defense Health Agency, United States Department of Defense","id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/0447fe631","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>This study assessed the role that natural killer (NK) cells play in a murine model of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Spike mRNA vaccination. Flow cytometric analyses revealed that mRNA vaccination results in recruitment and maturation of NK cells in the spleen. Primed (CD27+ CD11b+) NK cells increased from 0.35% of all CD45+ cells pre-vaccination to 2.44% at 4\u2009d post-vaccination, while terminally mature (CD27\u2212 CD11b+) NK cells increased from 0.85% of all CD45+ cells pre-vaccination to 3.91% at 7\u2009d post-vaccination. We next evaluated Spike mRNA and protein expression, circulating cytokines, and Spike-specific antibody and T cell responses in mice depleted of NK cells before primary or booster vaccination. Depleting NK cells prior to mRNA vaccination resulted in decreased serum levels of IL-1\u03b2 and IL-6 at 6 and 24\u2009h, respectively, after vaccination. NK depletion also caused a significant reduction in Spike mRNA expression in draining lymph nodes, with greater than 5-fold reductions in Spike mRNA copies\/\u03bcL, as measured by digital droplet PCR. Three weeks post-vaccination with 1\u2009\u03bcg mRNA LNP, Spike-specific CD25+ CD4 T cells were also significantly decreased. Despite these decreases in early pro-inflammatory cytokines, Spike mRNA expression, and Spike-specific CD4 T cells, NK depletion had little impact on Spike-specific antibody levels at 1 and 6\u2009mo following single vaccination, as well as at 3\u2009wk after booster vaccination. Together, these data suggest that NK cells contribute to early inflammatory responses induced by mRNA vaccination, yet their depletion does not impair the magnitude of long-term adaptive immune responses induced by this platform.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/jimmun\/vkag266","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,9]],"date-time":"2026-10-09T15:07:44Z","timestamp":1791558464000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Effects of natural killer cell depletion on innate and adaptive immune responses to COVID mRNA vaccination"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"215","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-1326-3571","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Allison","family":"Segard","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University , Bethesda, MD,","place":["United States"]},{"name":"Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. , Bethesda, MD,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6284-4346","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emilie","family":"Goguet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University , Bethesda, MD,","place":["United States"]},{"name":"Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. , Bethesda, MD,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hannah","family":"Haines-Hull","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University , Bethesda, MD,","place":["United States"]},{"name":"Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. , Bethesda, MD,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kim C","family":"Williamson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University , Bethesda, MD,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stephen K","family":"Anderson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research , Frederick, MD,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hooda","family":"Said","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Experimental Pathology, Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia , Philadelphia, PA,","place":["United 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