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Siglec-7 Defines a Highly Functional Natural Killer Cell Subset and Inhibits Cell-Mediated Activities
J-Y Shao1, W-W Yin1, Q-F Zhang1
1Department of Infectious Diseases, Institute for Viral Hepatitis, Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology for Infectious Diseases (Ministry of Education), The Second Affiliated Hospital, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Abstract:
Sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin-7 (Siglec-7) is an inhibitory receptor expressed on natural killer (NK) cells. In this study, we investigated the relationship between Siglec-7 expression and NK cell functions. Siglec-7 was highly expressed on NK cells and was preferentially expressed by mature NK cells from peripheral blood of healthy adults. Siglec-7(+) NK cells displayed higher levels of activating receptors CD38, CD16, DNAM1, NKp30 and NKp46, but lower levels of inhibitory receptors such as NKG2A and CD158b, compared with Siglec-7(-) NK cells. Functional tests showed that Siglec-7(+) NK cells displayed more CD107a degranulation and IFN-γ production than Siglec-7(-) NK cells. Siglec-7 inhibited NK cell functions when interacting with specific antibodies. These data suggest that Siglec-7 defines a highly functional NK cell subset and suppresses NK cell-mediated functions when cross-linked with specific antibodies.
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