Peng Hui, Wisse Eddie, Tian Zhigang
Institute of Immunology and The CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, School of Life Sciences and Medical Center, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Cell Mol Immunol. 2016 May;13(3):328-36. doi: 10.1038/cmi.2015.96. Epub 2015 Dec 7.
The liver represents a frontline immune organ that is constantly exposed to a variety of gut-derived antigens as a result of its unique location and blood supply. With a predominant role in innate immunity, the liver is enriched with various innate immune cells, among which natural killer (NK) cells play important roles in host defense and in maintaining immune balance. Hepatic NK cells were first described as 'pit cells' in the rat liver in the 1970s. Recent studies of NK cells in mouse and human livers have shown that two distinct NK cell subsets, liver-resident NK cells and conventional NK (cNK) cells, are present in this organ. Here, we review liver NK cell subsets in different species, revisiting rat hepatic pit cells and highlighting recent progress related to resident NK cells in mouse and human livers, and also discuss the dual roles of NK cells in liver immunity.
肝脏是一个前沿免疫器官，由于其独特的位置和血液供应，它不断接触各种来自肠道的抗原。肝脏在固有免疫中起主要作用，富含各种固有免疫细胞，其中自然杀伤（NK）细胞在宿主防御和维持免疫平衡中发挥重要作用。肝脏NK细胞在20世纪70年代首次在大鼠肝脏中被描述为“pit细胞”。最近对小鼠和人类肝脏中NK细胞的研究表明，该器官中存在两种不同的NK细胞亚群，即肝脏驻留NK细胞和传统NK（cNK）细胞。在这里，我们回顾了不同物种中的肝脏NK细胞亚群，重新审视大鼠肝脏pit细胞，并强调与小鼠和人类肝脏中驻留NK细胞相关的最新进展，同时也讨论了NK细胞在肝脏免疫中的双重作用。
