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The relevance of natural killer cell human leucocyte antigen epitopes and killer cell immunoglobulin‐like receptors in bone marrow transplantation
Author(s) -
Witt C. S.,
Christiansen F. T.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
vox sanguinis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.68
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1423-0410
pISSN - 0042-9007
DOI - 10.1111/j.1423-0410.2005.00712.x
Subject(s) - epitope , immunology , human leukocyte antigen , biology , transplantation , receptor , antigen , antibody , repertoire , medicine , genetics , physics , acoustics
The discovery that killer cell immunoglobulin‐like receptors (KIR) interact with genetically polymorphic epitopes on class I human leucocyte antigen (HLA) molecules and that the KIR receptor repertoire itself is genetically variable has led to investigation of the relevance of the KIR system to stem cell transplantation. A number of retrospective studies of transplant outcome have now demonstrated either beneficial or deleterious effects of mismatching for class I natural killer (NK) epitopes. A smaller number of studies have shown effects of the donor and/or patient KIR repertoire on outcome, irrespective of the patient and donor HLA type. The most parsimonious interpretation of the data, which are often conflicting, is that the effect of NK epitope matching is very much dependent on transplant protocols, with the extent of donor T‐cell depletion possibly being the most important variable. A clearer picture of the role of matching for NK epitopes and the KIR‐receptor repertoire of the donor is needed.