Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
Front Immunol. 2021 May 4;12:666045. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.666045. eCollection 2021.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a prevalent chronic airway disease with varied frequencies of acute exacerbations, which are the main cause of morbidity and mortality of the disease. It is, therefore, urgent to develop novel therapies for COPD and its exacerbations, which rely heavily on understanding of the pathogenesis and investigation for potential targets. Current evidence indicates that natural killer (NK) cells play important roles in the pathological processes of COPD. Although novel data are revealing the significance of NK cells in maintaining immune system homeostasis and their involvement in pathogenesis of COPD, the specific mechanisms are largely unknown. Specific and in-depth studies elucidating the underlying mechanisms are therefore needed. In this review, we provided a brief overview of the biology of NK cells, from its development to receptors and functions, and outlined their subsets in peripheral blood and lungs. Then we reviewed published findings highlighting the important roles played by NK cells in COPD and its exacerbations, with a view of providing the current state of knowledge in this area to facilitate related in-depth research.
慢性阻塞性肺疾病（COPD）是一种常见的慢性气道疾病，其急性加重的频率不一，是该病发病率和死亡率的主要原因。因此，迫切需要开发治疗 COPD 及其急性加重的新疗法，这主要依赖于对发病机制的理解和对潜在靶点的研究。现有证据表明，自然杀伤（NK）细胞在 COPD 的病理过程中发挥重要作用。尽管新数据揭示了 NK 细胞在维持免疫系统稳态及其在 COPD 发病机制中的参与的重要性，但具体机制在很大程度上仍是未知的。因此，需要进行具体和深入的研究来阐明潜在的机制。在这篇综述中，我们简要概述了 NK 细胞的生物学特性，从其发育到受体和功能，并概述了其在外周血和肺部的亚群。然后，我们回顾了已发表的研究结果，强调了 NK 细胞在 COPD 及其急性加重中的重要作用，以期为该领域的相关深入研究提供当前的知识状况。
