Natural killer cells and viral infections

Natural killer (NK) cells play a key role in innate host defense against viruses. Significant progress has been made in understanding the specific response of NK cells during viral infections by the recent identification of an NK cell receptor involved in in vivo resistance, and its ligand. New insight has also been provided in NK cell cytokine and chemokine responses, highlighting the complexity of regulatory pathways. Taken together, a more comprehensive view of the role of NK cells in innate immunity is now available.