NK cell education and CIS interaction between inhibitory NK cell receptors and their ligands

Jacques Zimmer*, François Hentges, Emmanuel Andrès, Anick Chalifour

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

    1 Citation (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Natural killer (NK) cells are major players of the innate immunity. Their capacity to synthesize cytokines and chemokines, to lyse various cells and to allow crosstalk between innate and adaptive immunity, make them important angular effector cells in the global immune system. NK cells have to be educated to correctly fulfill their functions. The expression of inhibitory receptors (IR) must be regulated in a way such that NK cells remain tolerant towards normal autologous cells while recognizing and eliminating cells that have lost, in part or in total, the expression of autologous major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) molecules. This loss frequently reflects tumor transformations or viral infections. In other words, NK cells are educated or selected for sparing normal autologous cells (normal presence of self) and for detecting abnormal autologous cells (abnormal absence of self, in other words missing-self) which leads to the elimination of diseased cells. The mechanisms of this education/selection process have not yet been completely elucidated, although dramatic progress has been made in recent years.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationNatural Killer Cells
    Subtitle of host publicationAt the Forefront of Modern Immunology
    PublisherSpringer Berlin Heidelberg
    Pages93-108
    Number of pages16
    ISBN (Print)9783642023088
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2010

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