A Genome-Wide CRISPR/Cas9-Based Screen Identifies Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans as Ligands of Killer-Cell Immunoglobulin-Like Receptors

Front Immunol. 2021 Nov 30:12:798235. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.798235. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

While human leukocyte antigen (HLA) and HLA-like proteins comprise an overwhelming majority of known ligands for NK-cell receptors, the interactions of NK-cell receptors with non-conventional ligands, particularly carbohydrate antigens, is less well described. We previously found through a bead-based HLA screen that KIR3DS1, a formerly orphan member of the killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) family, binds to HLA-F. In this study, we assessed the ligand binding profile of KIR3DS1 to cell lines using Fc fusion constructs, and discovered that KIR3DS1-Fc exhibited binding to several human cell lines including ones devoid of HLA. To identify these non-HLA ligands, we developed a magnetic enrichment-based genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 knock-out screen approach, and identified enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of heparan sulfate as crucial for the binding of KIR3DS1-Fc to K562 cells. This interaction between KIR3DS1 and heparan sulfate was confirmed via surface plasmon resonance, and removal of heparan sulfate proteoglycans from cell surfaces abolished KIR3DS1-Fc binding. Testing of additional KIR-Fc constructs demonstrated that KIR family members containing a D0 domain (KIR3DS1, KIR3DL1, KIR3DL2, KIR2DL4, and KIR2DL5) bound to heparan sulfate, while those without a D0 domain (KIR2DL1, KIR2DL2, KIR2DL3, and KIR2DS4) did not. Overall, this study demonstrates the use of a genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 knock-out strategy to unbiasedly identify unconventional ligands of NK-cell receptors. Furthermore, we uncover a previously underrecognized binding of various activating and inhibitory KIRs to heparan sulfate proteoglycans that may play a role in NK-cell receptor signaling and target-cell recognition.

Keywords: CRISPR; KIR; NK cells; heparan sulfate; screen.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • CRISPR-Associated Protein 9 / metabolism
  • CRISPR-Cas Systems
  • Genome-Wide Association Study
  • Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans / agonists*
  • Humans
  • K562 Cells
  • Killer Cells, Natural / immunology*
  • Ligands
  • Receptors, KIR / agonists*
  • Receptors, KIR3DS1 / metabolism*
  • Signal Transduction

Substances

  • Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans
  • KIR3DS1 protein, human
  • Ligands
  • Receptors, KIR
  • Receptors, KIR3DS1
  • CRISPR-Associated Protein 9