14th International HLA and Immunogenetics Workshop: report on KIR receptors and their applications

During the last few years many laboratories have developed a keen interest in detecting killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) receptor genes in various populations, diseases and in stem cell transplantation. At the 14th International Histocompatibility Workshop held in Melbourne in December 2006, many of these laboratories presented their findings at a special session. To introduce this work, we provide an introduction to KIR receptors and an outline of previous applications of KIR receptor typing prior to the Workshop.