The KIR and CD94/NKG2 families of molecules in the rhesus monkey

M L LaBonte1, K L Hershberger, B Korber

  • 1Harvard Medical School, Division of Viral Pathogenesis, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

Immunological Reviews
|January 10, 2002
PubMed

Natural killer (NK) cells and a subset of T cells express families of receptors that are capable of detecting major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I expression on the surface of cells. Molecules of the killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) family bind directly to MHC class I, while those of the CD94/NKG2 family recognize MHC class I signal sequences bound to HLA-E. Both the KIR and CD94/NKG2 families are composed of activating and inhibitory molecules that serve to regulate the function of NK cells as a result of their MHC class I recognition. Here we review the recently described KIR and CD94/NKG2 family members in the rhesus monkey.

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