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Natural killer cell activation and inhibition by receptors for MHC class I
1Servicio de Inmunología, Hospital Universitario de la Princesa, Diego de León 62, 28006, Madrid, Spain. mlbotet/princesa@hup.es
Several recent advances have been made in our understanding of the mechanisms which human natural killer cells recognize MHC class I molecules. Three are of special relevance: the identification of a novel molecule (DAP12) with a key role in the activation pathways; the observation that certain immunoglobulin-like receptors for HLA class I molecules are also utilized by other leucocyte lineages; and the definition of MHC class Ib proteins (i.e. HLA-E and Qa-1b) as specific ligands for the phylogenetically conserved CD94-NKG2 lectin-like receptors.
Several recent advances have been made in our understanding of the mechanisms which human natural killer cells recognize MHC class I molecules. Three are of special relevance: the identification of a novel molecule (DAP12) with a key role in the activation pathways; the observation that certain immunoglobulin-like receptors for HLA class I molecules are also utilized by other leucocyte lineages; and the definition of MHC class Ib proteins (i.e. HLA-E and Qa-1b) as specific ligands for the phylogenetically conserved CD94-NKG2 lectin-like receptors.