Young N T, Bunce M, Morris P J, Welsh K I
Nuffield Department of Surgery, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.
Hum Immunol. 1997 Jan;52(1):1-11. doi: 10.1016/S0198-8859(96)00258-3.
Human killer cell inhibitory receptors (KIR) are novel members of the immunoglobulin superfamily of cell surface glycoproteins, which are expressed by lymphocytes with natural killers (NK) and cytotoxic T-cell (CTL) phenotypes. These receptors have specificity for relatively conserved epitopes of HLA-A, -B, and -C class I antigens. Recent studies have identified KIR as being involved in the transmission of negative, inhibitory signaling events to the cytotoxic cell which prevent or diminish target cell lysis. KIR are thus likely to play an important role in the responses of alloreactive NK cells and CTL to allogeneic HLA antigens. In this article, we review the known structural and functional characteristics of KIR, suggest a possible mechanism for the transmission of intracellular negative signaling by these receptors, and discuss the relevance of KIR function and HLA specificity to the clinical transplantation of allogeneic tissues.
人类杀伤细胞抑制性受体（KIR）是细胞表面糖蛋白免疫球蛋白超家族的新成员，由具有自然杀伤细胞（NK）和细胞毒性T细胞（CTL）表型的淋巴细胞表达。这些受体对HLA - A、- B和 - C I类抗原的相对保守表位具有特异性。最近的研究已确定KIR参与向细胞毒性细胞传递负性抑制信号事件，从而阻止或减少靶细胞裂解。因此，KIR可能在同种异体反应性NK细胞和CTL对同种异体HLA抗原的反应中发挥重要作用。在本文中，我们综述了KIR已知的结构和功能特征，提出了这些受体传递细胞内负性信号的可能机制，并讨论了KIR功能和HLA特异性与同种异体组织临床移植的相关性。
