Journal
JOURNAL OF ALLERGY AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY
Volume 132, Issue 3, Pages 536-544Publisher
MOSBY-ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2013.07.006
Keywords
Natural killer cell; killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors; innate immunity; immune memory; antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity; cancer; viral infection; hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; immunomodulatory drugs; IFN-gamma
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Funding
- National Institutes of Health [CA083859, CA06927]
- Health Research Formula Fund (CURE) grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Health
- Daiichi Sankyo Co, Tokyo, Japan
- National Institutes of Health
- Pennsylvania Department of Health
- Bristol Meyers Squibb
- Daiichi Sankyo Co.
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Natural killer (NK) cells constitute a minor subset of normal lymphocytes that initiate innate immune responses toward tumor and virus-infected cells. They can mediate spontaneous cytotoxicity toward these abnormal cells and rapidly secrete numerous cytokines and chemokines to promote subsequent adaptive immune responses. Significant progress has been made in the past 2 decades to improve our understanding of NK cell biology. Here we review recent discoveries, including a better comprehension of the education'' of NK cells to achieve functional competence during their maturation and the discovery of memory'' responses by NK cells, suggesting that they might also contribute to adaptive immunity. The improved understanding of NK cell biology has forged greater awareness that these cells play integral early roles in immune responses. In addition, several promising clinical therapies have been used to exploit NK cell functions in treating patients with cancer. As our molecular understanding improves, these and future immunotherapies should continue to provide promising strategies to exploit the unique functions of NK cells to treat cancer, infections, and other pathologic conditions.
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