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CD56 bright natural killer (NK) cells: an important NK cell subset
Author(s) -
Poli Aurélie,
Michel Tatiana,
Thérésine Maud,
Andrès Emmanuel,
Hentges François,
Zimmer Jacques
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.297
H-Index - 133
eISSN - 1365-2567
pISSN - 0019-2805
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2567.2008.03027.x
Subject(s) - cd16 , lymphokine activated killer cell , interleukin 21 , cytotoxic t cell , natural killer cell , biology , janus kinase 3 , immunology , cell , nk 92 , peripheral blood , innate lymphoid cell , microbiology and biotechnology , t cell , immune system , innate immune system , in vitro , cd8 , genetics , cd3
Summary Human natural killer (NK) cells can be subdivided into different populations based on the relative expression of the surface markers CD16 and CD56. The two major subsets are CD56 bright CD16 dim/ − and CD56 dim CD16 + , respectively. In this review, we will focus on the CD56 bright NK cell subset. These cells are numerically in the minority in peripheral blood but constitute the majority of NK cells in secondary lymphoid tissues. They are abundant cytokine producers but are only weakly cytotoxic before activation. Recent data suggest that under certain conditions, they have immunoregulatory properties, and that they are probably immediate precursors of CD56 dim NK cells. CD56 bright NK cell percentages are expanded or reduced in a certain number of diseases, but the significance of these variations is not yet clear.