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Updated: Jan 7, 2026

Teasing Out the Interplay Between Natural Killer Cells and Nociceptor Neurons
Published on: June 30, 2022
Noncytotoxic functions of NK cells: direct pathogen restriction and assistance to adaptive immunity
Till Strowig1, Fabienne Brilot, Christian Münz
1Laboratory of Viral Immunobiology and Christopher H Browne Center for Immunology and Immune Diseases, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA.
Abstract:
Natural killer cells were named after their ability to mediate spontaneous cytotoxicity during innate immune responses. However, it has become clear in recent years that they play an equally important role in restricting infections and assisting the development of adaptive immune responses via their ability to produce cytokines. In humans, a dedicated NK cell subset primarily fulfills these later functions. In this review we discuss the noncytotoxic effector functions of NK cells and how they could be harnessed for immunotherapy and vaccine development.
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