Subsets of Human Natural Killer Cells and Their Regulatory Effects

Overview

Journal Immunology

Specialty Allergy & Immunology

Date 2013 Dec 6

PMID 24303897

Citations 96

Authors

Binqing Fu

Zhigang Tian

Haiming Wei

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Human natural killer (NK) cells have distinct functions as NK(tolerant) , NK(cytotoxic) and NK(regulatory) cells and can be divided into different subsets based on the relative expression of the surface markers CD27 and CD11b. CD27⁺ NK cells, which are abundant cytokine producers, are numerically in the minority in human peripheral blood but constitute the large population of NK cells in cord blood, spleen, tonsil and decidua tissues. Recent data suggest that these NK cells may have immunoregulatory properties under certain conditions. In this review, we will focus on these new NK cell subsets and discuss how regulatory NK cells may serve as rheostats or sentinels in controlling inflammation and maintaining immune homeostasis in various organs.

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