Tracing dynamic expansion of human NK-cell subsets by high-resolution analysis of KIR repertoires and cellular differentiation

摘要

Natural killer (NK) cells are key cellular components of the innate immune system that act at the interface between innate and adaptive immune responses [1]. An increasing body of evidence shows that specific clones of NK cells maybe expanded in vivo under the influence of viruses such as human cytomegalovirus (CMV) [2, 3]. These adaptive-like NK-cell responses have been proposed to represent a human counterpart to the NK-cell memory responses observed in mice [4], and seem to be driven by activating receptors, including NKG2C and activating killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) [2, 5, 6]. So far, clonal-like expansion of specific NK-cell subsets has been documented mostly in the context of primary CMV infection, or conditions that are linked to a clinical or subclinical reactivation of CMV [2, 3, 6-9].