Natural Killer Cell

Natural Killer Cell

Natural killer cells (or NK cells) are a type of cytotoxic lymphocyte critical to the innate immune system. The role NK cells play is analogous to that of cytotoxic T cells in the vertebrate adaptive immune response. NK cells provide rapid responses to virally infected cells and respond to tumor formation, acting at around 3 days after infection. Typically immune cells detect MHC presented on infected cell surfaces, triggering cytokine release causing lysis or apoptosis. NK cells are unique, however, as they have the ability to recognize stressed cells in the absence of antibodies and MHC, allowing for a much faster immune reaction. They were named “natural killers” because of the initial notion that they do not require activation in order to kill cells that are missing “self” markers of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class 1 .

NK cells are defined as large granular lymphocytes (LGL) and constitute the third kind of cells differentiated from the common lymphoid progenitor generating B and T lymphocytes. NK cells are known to differentiate and mature in the bone marrow, lymph node, spleen, tonsils and thymus where they then enter into the circulation. . NK cells differ from Natural Killer T cells (NKT) phenotypically, by origin and by respective effector functions; often NKT cell activity promotes NK cell activity by secreting IFNγ. In contrast to NKT cells, NK cells do not express T-cell antigen receptors (TCR) or Pan T marker CD3 or surface immunoglobulins (Ig) B cell receptors, but they usually express the surface markers CD16 (FcγRIII) and CD56 in humans, NK1.1 or NK1.2 in C57BL/6 mice. Up to 80% of human NK cells also express CD8.

In addition to the knowledge that natural killer cells are effectors of innate immunity, recent research has uncovered information on both activating and inhibitory NK cell receptors which play important function roles including self tolerance and sustaining NK cell activity. NK cell also play a role in adaptive immune response, numerous experiments have worked to demonstrate their ability to readily adjust to the immediate environment and formulate antigen-specific immunological memory, fundamental for responding to secondary infections with the same antigen. The ability for NK cells to act in both the innate and adaptive immune response is becoming increasingly important in research utilizing NK cell activity and potential cancer therapies.