Abstract
NK cells are major effectors of the innate immune response through cytolysis and bridge to the adaptive immune response through cytokine release. The mediators of activation are well studied; however, little is known about the mechanisms that restrain activation. In this report, we demonstrate that the transcriptional repressor PRDM1 (also known as Blimp-1 or PRDI-BF1) is a critical negative regulator of NK function. Three distinct PRDM1 isoforms are selectively induced in the CD56(dim) NK population in response to activation. PRDM1 coordinately suppresses the release of IFN-γ, TNF-α, and TNF-β through direct binding to multiple conserved regulatory regions. Ablation of PRDM1 expression leads to enhanced production of IFN-γ and TNF-α but does not alter cytotoxicity, whereas overexpression blocks cytokine production. PRDM1 response elements are defined at the IFNG and TNF loci. Collectively, these data demonstrate a key role for PRDM1 in the negative regulation of NK activation and position PRDM1 as a common regulator of the adaptive and innate immune response.