Antiviral Responses of Tissue-resident CD49a⁺ Lung Natural Killer Cells Are Dysregulated in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Rationale: Tissue-resident natural killer (trNK) cells have been identified in numerous organs, but little is known about their functional contribution to respiratory immunity, in particular during chronic lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Objectives: To investigate the phenotype and antiviral responses of trNK cells in murine cigarette smoke-induced experimental COPD and in human lung parenchyma from COPD donors. Methods: Mice were exposed to cigarette smoke for 12 weeks to induce COPD-like lung disease. Lung trNK cell phenotypes and function were analyzed by flow cytometry in both murine and human disease with and without challenge with influenza A virus. Measurements and Main Results: In the mouse lung, CD49a⁺CD49b⁺EOMES⁺ and CD49a⁺CD49b^-EOMES^lo NK cell populations had a distinct phenotype compared with CD49a^- circulating NK cells. CD49a⁺ NK cells were more extensively altered earlier in disease onset than circulating NK cells, and increased proportions of CD49a⁺ NK cells correlated with worsening disease in both murine and human COPD. Furthermore, the presence of lung disease delayed both circulating and trNK cell functional responses to influenza infection. CD49a⁺ NK cells markedly increased their NKG2D, CD103, and CD69 expression in experimental COPD after influenza infection, and human CD49a⁺ NK cells were hyperactive to ex vivo influenza infection in COPD donors. Conclusions: Collectively, these results demonstrate that trNK cell function is altered in cigarette smoke-induced disease and suggests that smoke exposure may aberrantly prime trNK cell responsiveness to viral infection. This may contribute to excess inflammation during viral exacerbations of COPD.