Institute of Natural Medicine, University of Toyama, Toyama, Japan.
Cancer Sci. 2020 Jun;111(6):1869-1875. doi: 10.1111/cas.14418. Epub 2020 May 5.
Natural killer (NK) cells are innate lymphocytes that rapidly respond to cancer cells without prior sensitization or restriction to the cognate antigen in comparison with tumor antigen-specific T cells. Recent advances in understanding NK-cell biology have elucidated the molecular mechanisms underlying the differentiation and maturation of NK cells, in addition to the control of their effector functions by investigating the receptors and ligands involved in the recognition of cancer cells by NK cells. Such clarification of NK-cell recognition of cancer cells also revealed the mechanism by which cancer cells potentially evade NK-cell-dependent immune surveillance. Furthermore, the recent clinical results of T-cell-targeted cancer immunotherapy have increased the expectations for new immunotherapies by targeting NK cells. However, the potential use of NK cells in cancer immunotherapy is not fully understood. In this review, we discuss the current evidence and future potential of pharmacological targeting of NK cells in cancer immunotherapy.
自然杀伤 (NK) 细胞是先天淋巴细胞，与肿瘤抗原特异性 T 细胞相比，它们无需预先致敏或限制对同源抗原即可快速响应癌细胞。对 NK 细胞生物学的深入了解阐明了 NK 细胞分化和成熟的分子机制，此外，通过研究参与 NK 细胞识别癌细胞的受体和配体，还控制了其效应功能。这种对 NK 细胞识别癌细胞的阐明还揭示了癌细胞潜在逃避 NK 细胞依赖性免疫监视的机制。此外，最近 T 细胞靶向癌症免疫疗法的临床结果增加了人们对靶向 NK 细胞的新免疫疗法的期望。然而，NK 细胞在癌症免疫疗法中的潜在用途尚未完全了解。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了在癌症免疫疗法中对 NK 细胞进行药理学靶向的当前证据和未来潜力。
