Transcriptional Control of NK Cells

Natural killer (NK) cells are innate lymphocytes that survey the environment and protect the host from infected and cancerous cells. As their name implies, NK cells represent an early line of defense during pathogen invasion by directly killing infected cells and secreting inflammatory cytokines. Although the function of NK cells was first described more than four decades ago, the development of this cytotoxic lineage is not well understood. In recent years, we have begun to identify specific transcription factors that control each stage of development and maturation, from ontogeny of the NK cell progenitor to the effector functions of activated NK cells in peripheral organs. This chapter highlights the transcription factors that are unique to NK cells, or shared between NK cells and other hematopoietic cell lineages, but govern the biology of this cytolytic lymphocyte.