The Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences and the National Institute of Biotechnology in the Negev, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
J Immunotoxicol. 2012 Jul-Sep;9(3):267-74. doi: 10.3109/1547691X.2012.675366. Epub 2012 Apr 23.
The matter of the pathogen- and cancer-associated ligands recognized by the Natural Cytotoxicity Receptors (NCRs) has been a subject of intense research ever since the identification of the NCRs more than 12 years ago by Alessandro and Lorenzo Moretta: NKp46 in 1997, NKp44 in 1998, and finally NKp30 in 1999. Expression patterns recognized by NCRs include pathogen-derived, pathogen-induced, and cancer-associated cellular 'self' ligands. Pathogen-exposed cells may exhibit both types of pathogen-associated ligands. Transformed cells, in contrast, exhibit only 'self' ligands which are derived from both the intracellular- and membrane-associated milieu of self molecules. These expression patterns allow for NCR-based NK cell discrimination between healthy and affected cells, in the realms of both pathogenic infection and potential tumorigenesis. The focus of this review is on the current knowledge regarding the identities of NCR ligands and the type of target cells expressing these ligands.
自 12 年前 Alessandro 和 Lorenzo Moretta 发现自然细胞毒性受体（NCRs）以来，病原体和癌症相关配体一直是研究的热点：1997 年发现 NKp46，1998 年发现 NKp44，1999 年发现 NKp30。NCR 识别的表达模式包括病原体衍生的、病原体诱导的和癌症相关的细胞“自身”配体。暴露于病原体的细胞可能同时表达这两种类型的病原体相关配体。相比之下，转化细胞仅表达源自自身分子的细胞内和膜相关环境的“自身”配体。这些表达模式允许 NCR 基于 NK 细胞在病原体感染和潜在肿瘤发生的两个领域中区分健康细胞和受影响的细胞。这篇综述的重点是关于 NCR 配体的身份以及表达这些配体的靶细胞类型的最新知识。
