NK cells and immune "memory" Journal Article


Authors: Sun, J. C.; Lopez-Verges, S.; Kim, C. C.; DeRisi, J. L.; Lanier, L. L.
Article Title: NK cells and immune "memory"
Abstract: Immunological memory is a hallmark of the adaptive immune system. However, the ability to remember and respond more robustly against a second encounter with the same pathogen has been described in organisms lacking T and B cells. Recently, NK cells have been shown to mediate Ag-specific recall responses in several different model systems. Although NK cells do not rearrange the genes encoding their activating receptors, NK cells experience a selective education process during development, undergo a clonal-like expansion during virus infection, generate long-lived progeny (i.e., memory cells), and mediate more efficacious secondary responses against previously encountered pathogens - all characteristics previously ascribed only to T and B cells in mammals. This review describes past findings leading up to these new discoveries, summarizes the evidence for and characteristics of NK cell memory, and discusses the attempts and future challenges to identify these long-lived memory NK cell populations in humans. Copyright©2011 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.
Keywords: nonhuman; cd8+ t lymphocyte; t-lymphocytes; animals; mice; cell differentiation; cell population; b lymphocyte; b-lymphocytes; leukosialin; gamma interferon; nucleotide sequence; natural killer cell; killer cells, natural; short survey; innate immunity; immunity, innate; antivirus agent; graft rejection; disease models, animal; adaptive immunity; cytokine release; hermes antigen; chemokine receptor ccr7; cytomegalovirus infection; immunotherapy, adoptive; immunologic memory; immunosuppressive agent; cd27 antigen; interleukin 2 receptor alpha; immunological memory; memory t lymphocyte; cd57 antigen; cd69 antigen; l selectin; interleukin 2 receptor beta; interleukin 7 receptor
Journal Title: Journal of Immunology
Volume: 186
Issue: 4
ISSN: 0022-1767
Publisher: The American Association of Immunologists, Inc  
Date Published: 2011-02-15
Start Page: 1891
End Page: 1897
Language: English
DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1003035
PUBMED: 21289313
PROVIDER: scopus
PMCID: PMC4410097
DOI/URL:
Notes: --- - "Export Date: 23 June 2011" - "CODEN: JOIMA" - "Source: Scopus"
Altmetric
Citation Impact
MSK Authors
  1. Joseph C Sun
    112 Sun