natural killer cells and autoimmunity自然杀伤细胞和自身免疫.pdfVIP

Arthritis Research Therapy Vol 6 No 1 French and Yokoyama Review Natural killer cells and autoimmunity Anthony R French1 and Wayne M Yokoyama2 1Division of Pediatric Rheumatology, Department pf Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA 2Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA Corresponding author: Wayne M Yokoyama (e-mail: yokoyama@) Received: 5 Nov 2003 Accepted: 24 Nov 2003 Published: 9 Dec 2003 Arthritis Res Ther 2004, 6:8-14 (DOI 10.1186/ar1034) © 2004 BioMed Central Ltd (Print ISSN 1478-6354; Online ISSN 1478-6362) Abstract Autoimmune diseases are often characterized as clinical syndromes caused by the inappropriate activation of T or B cells resulting in systemic or organ-specific damage. However, studies support a role for the innate immune system, and in particular natural killer (NK) cells, in stimulating or suppressing autoimmunity. This review focuses on recent research elucidating a potential immunoregulatory role for NK cells in modulating T and B cell-mediated autoimmunity. Keywords: autoimmunity, immunoregulation, natural killer cells Natural killer cells NK cell responses result from the integration of signals Natural killer (NK) cells are large, granular, bone marrow- from both cytokine receptors and germline-encoded NK derived lymphocytes that do not express T or B cell recep- cell inhibitory and activation receptors. NK cell