ArticleNature immunology2014
The metabolic checkpoint kinase mTOR is essential for IL-15 signaling during the development and activation of NK cells.
Article in Nature immunology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 375 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
375 citing papers in PubMed, 589 citations in OpenAlex.
- TNF-α deficiency underlies NK cell dysfunction in colorectal cancer.Oncoimmunology · 2026Article
- DRP1 depletion protects NK cells from hypoxia-induced dysfunction.Redox report : communications in free radical research · 2026Article
- Next-generation natural killer cell therapy: bench to bedside and beyond.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
- Inhibition of the lipocalin-2-phosphatidylserine axis restores natural killer cell immune surveillance.Cell reports. Medicine · 2026Article
- Short-Chain Fatty Acids at the Crossroads of Microbiota, Immunometabolism, and Inflammation.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- Macrophages tune NK cell IFNγ production through direct lipid transfer.Nature communications · 2026Article
- The CREM-IL-15 axis: decoding the persistence-exhaustion paradox in NK cell immunotherapy.Cancer immunology, immunotherapy : CII · 2026Review
- METTL14-mediated mCell death & disease · 2026Article
- CAR-NK cell therapy for hematological malignancies.Blood advances · 2026Review
- Disturbed metabolic adaptation drives natural killer cell dysfunction in association with nosocomial infection during human sepsis.EBioMedicine · 2026Article
- Engineered Mesenchymal Stem Cell-NK Cell Complexes for Spatially Targeted and Functionally Revitalized Cancer Immunotherapy.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Metabolic modulation of immune cell function: mechanisms and therapeutic implications in cancer immunotherapy.Oncogenesis · 2026Review
- Glucose metabolic reprogramming as a driver of immunosuppression in the tumour microenvironment.Clinical and translational medicine · 2026Review
- Tumor-Infiltrating Natural Killer Cell Characterization in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.Cells · 2026Article
- Functional segregation of HIF-1α and AhR controls NK cell responsiveness under hypoxia.iScience · 2026Article
- Liver kinase B1 maintains natural killer cell survival by regulating redox homeostasis.Cell death & disease · 2026Article
- IRF2 deficiency disrupts pyroptosis, NK cell interferon-γ production and resistance to Francisella.EMBO reports · 2026Article
- Sepsis alters NK cell transcriptional programs for stress, actin remodeling, and intracellular trafficking.Cellular & molecular biology letters · 2026Article
- Nanomaterial-Enabled Modulation of Tumor-Associated Macrophages and Dendritic Cells to Enhance Cancer Immunotherapy.Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Multimodal profiling of pancreatic cancer reveals a TIMP-1-dominated secretory profile determining pro-tumor immunoinstruction in human cancers.Cell reports. Medicine · 2026Article
315 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
14 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Interleukin 15 (IL-15) controls both the homeostasis and the peripheral activation of natural killer (NK) cells. The molecular basis for this duality of action remains unknown. Here we found that the metabolic checkpoint kinase mTOR was activated and boosted bioenergetic metabolism after exposure of NK cells to high concentrations of IL-15, whereas low doses of IL-15 triggered only phosphorylation of the transcription factor STAT5. mTOR stimulated the growth and nutrient uptake of NK cells and positively fed back on the receptor for IL-15. This process was essential for sustaining NK cell proliferation during development and the acquisition of cytolytic potential during inflammation or viral infection. The mTORC1 inhibitor rapamycin inhibited NK cell cytotoxicity both in mice and humans; this probably contributes to the immunosuppressive activity of this drug in different clinical settings.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.