Open AccessHarnessing adaptive natural killer cells in cancer immunotherapy
Author(s) -
Liu Lisa L.,
Pfefferle Aline,
Yi Sheng Vincent Oei,
Björklund Andreas T.,
Béziat Vivien,
Goodridge Jodie P.,
Malmberg Karl-Johan
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
molecular oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.332
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1878-0261
pISSN - 1574-7891
DOI - 10.1016/j.molonc.2015.10.001
Subject(s) - reprogramming , biology , cytotoxic t cell , mhc class i , immunotherapy , acquired immune system , cancer immunotherapy , natural killer cell , microbiology and biotechnology , epigenetics , lymphokine activated killer cell , nkg2d , cell , major histocompatibility complex , immunology , interleukin 21 , immune system , t cell , genetics , gene , in vitro
Natural killer (NK) cells are innate lymphocytes with a refined ability to recognize transformed cells through a broad array of activating receptors in combination with stochastically expressed inhibitory receptors that recognize MHC‐class I. Recent advances in NK cell biology have revealed a high degree of functional plasticity that can be attributed to dynamic cell‐to‐cell interactions in concert with transcriptional and epigenetic reprogramming. Here, we discuss how new insights into the adaptive behavior of NK cells pave the way for next generation cell therapy based on guided differentiation and selective expansion of particularly cytotoxic NK cell subsets.