Natural Killer Cells in Inflammatory Autoimmune Diseases

Overview

Journal Clin Transl Immunology

Specialty Allergy & Immunology

Date 2021 Feb 8

PMID 33552511

Citations 33

Authors

Yuyan Yang

Jessica Day

Fernando Souza-Fonseca Guimaraes

Ian P Wicks

Cynthia Louis

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Natural killer (NK) cells are a specialised population of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) that help control local immune responses. Through natural cytotoxicity, production of cytokines and chemokines, and migratory capacity, NK cells play a vital immunoregulatory role in the initiation and chronicity of inflammatory and autoimmune responses. Our understanding of their functional differences and contributions in disease settings is evolving owing to new genetic and functional murine proof-of-concept studies. Here, we summarise current understanding of NK cells in several classic autoimmune disorders, particularly in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), multiple sclerosis (MS), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), but also less understood diseases such as idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs). A better understanding of how NK cells contribute to these autoimmune disorders may pave the way for NK cell-targeted therapeutics.

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