Natural Killer (NK) cells are crucial mediators of innate immunity, protecting human from several unwanted health hazards. They are derived from haematopoietic stem cells and exert cytotoxic effects against infections, tumours, allergic and autoimmune diseases. They also have important roles in pregnancy and organ transplantation. The immune functions exhibited by NK-cells are under tight regulation of NK-cell receptors which may be stimulatory or inhibitory. Therefore, a better understanding of NK-cell biology and its receptors may aid in the discovery of novel therapeutic strategies which could be fruitful in improving human health and diseases. However, such strategies before being used extensively in the clinical setup must be verified by further in-depth and large scale experimental studies. Thus the basic aim of this review was to harness a short update on NK-cell biology and its effect on human physiology and pathology.
展开▼
