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Immune functions encoded by the natural killer gene complex
Wayne M Yokoyama1, Beatrice F M Plougastel
1Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Rheumatology Division, Department of Medicine, Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, Box 8045, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St Louis, Missouri 63110, USA. yokoyama@imgate.wustl.edu
Nature Reviews. Immunology
|April 2, 2003
Abstract:
There has been marked progress in our understanding of the role of natural killer (NK) cells in immune responses, mainly due to the identification of NK-cell receptors and their ligands. The genes encoding many NK-cell receptors are located in the NK-gene complex (NKC). Here, we review the properties of NKC-encoded receptors, and provide a genomic and conceptual framework for an insight into NK-cell function and biology.