Journal
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
Volume 7, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2016.00066
Keywords
natural killer cells; lymphocyte diversity; mass cytometry; viral susceptibility; single-cell technology
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Funding
- National Science Foundation training grant [DGE-114740]
- Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award [1F31AI118469-01]
- Beckman Young Investigator Award
- NIH Directors' New Innovator Award [DP2AI11219301]
- Tashia and John Morgridge Endowed Faculty Scholar Award in Pediatric Translational Medicine, Child Health Research Institute at Stanford
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Natural killer (NK) cells are a unique lymphocyte lineage with remarkable agility in the rapid destruction of virus-infected cells. They are also the most poorly understood class of lymphocyte. A spectrum of activating and inhibitory receptors at the NK cell surface leads to an unusual and difficult-to-study mechanism of cellular recognition, as well as a very high capacity for diversity at the single-cell level. Here, we review the evidence for the role of NK cells in the earliest stage of human viral infection, and in its prevention. We argue that single-cell diversity is a logical evolutionary adaptation for their position in the immune response and contributes to their ability to kill virus-infected cells. Finally, we look to the future, where emerging single-cell technologies will enable a new generation of rigorous and clinically relevant studies on NK cells accounting for all of their unique and diverse characteristics.
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