{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T19:23:06Z","timestamp":1782847386621,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,16]],"date-time":"2025-04-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1744761600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000024","name":"Canadian Institutes of Health Research","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["130423"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["130423"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000024","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Previous studies have demonstrated the significant impact of NK cells on adaptive immune responses against chlamydial infections through modulating DCs, yet the molecular mechanisms remain incompletely understood. This study investigates the role of NK cells in modulating DC signaling pathways and the recruitment of DCs during Chlamydia muridarum infection. Transcriptomic analyses revealed significant downregulation of key genes in DCs from NK-depleted mice involved in type I immunity, including IL12rb2, IL-18rap, and chemokine signaling components such as Ccl3, Ccl5, and Ccr5. Gene ontology (GO) analyses confirmed impaired chemokine\u2013chemokine receptor interactions in DCs from NK-depleted mice. Moreover, flow cytometry analysis showed that NK-cell depletion reduced CCR5 expression on splenic and pulmonary DCs, impairing their migration toward CCL3 and CCL5. Furthermore, IFN-\u03b3 enhanced CCR5 expression on the surface of DCs, consequently promoting their migration, which was blocked by anti-IFN-\u03b3 antibodies. In vitro migration assays showed that treatment of DCs with IFN-\u03b3 increased their responsiveness to CCL3 and CCL5, the ligands of CCR5. Collectively, this study provides new insights into the indispensable role of NK cells in orchestrating DC signaling and the recruitment of DCs during chlamydial infection.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms26083769","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,16]],"date-time":"2025-04-16T10:04:56Z","timestamp":1744797896000},"page":"3769","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["NK Cells Modulate Dendritic Cell (DC) Signaling Pathways and DC Recruitment in Chlamydial Infection"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"26","author":[{"given":"Xinting","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Immunology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0T5, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Science, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China"},{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, Key Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Key Laboratory of Immune Microenvironment and Disease (Ministry of Education), The Province and Ministry Co-Sponsored Collaborative Innovation Center for Medical Epigenetics, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4828-7560","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chunyan","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Immunology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0T5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yongci","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Immunology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0T5, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Science, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China"},{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, Key Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Key Laboratory of Immune Microenvironment and Disease (Ministry of Education), The Province and Ministry Co-Sponsored Collaborative Innovation Center for Medical Epigenetics, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shuhe","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Immunology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0T5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rony","family":"Thomas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Immunology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0T5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8831-7488","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xi","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Immunology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0T5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"385","DOI":"10.1038\/nrmicro.2016.30","article-title":"Chlamydia cell biology and pathogenesis","volume":"14","author":"Elwell","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nat. 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