RESUMEN
In systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) loss of immune tolerance, autoantibody production and immune complex deposition are required but not sufficient for organ damage1. How inflammatory signals are initiated and amplified in the setting of autoimmunity remains elusive. Here, we set out to dissect layers and hierarchies of autoimmune kidney inflammation in order to identify tissue-specific cellular hubs that amplify auto-inflammatory responses. Using high-resolution single-cell profiling of kidney immune and parenchymal cells, in combination with antibody blocking and genetic deficiency, we show that tissue-resident NKp46+ innate lymphoid cells (ILC) are crucial signal amplifiers of disease-associated macrophage expansion and epithelial cell injury in lupus nephritis, downstream of autoantibody production. NKp46 signaling in a distinct subset of ILC1 instructed an unconventional immune-regulatory transcriptional program, which included the expression of the myeloid cell growth factor CSF2. CSF2 production by NKp46+ ILC promoted the population expansion of monocyte-derived macrophages. Blockade of the NKp46 receptor (using the antibody mNCR1.152) or genetic deficiency of NKp46 abrogated epithelial cell injury. The same cellular and molecular patterns were operative in human lupus nephritis. Our data support that NKp46+ ILC1 promote parenchymal cell injury by granting monocyte-derived macrophages access to epithelial cell niches. NKp46 activation in ILC1 thus constitutes a previously unrecognized, critical tissue rheostat that amplifies organ damage in autoimmune hosts, with broad implications for inflammatory pathologies and therapies.