NK受体KIR生物学功能的研究进展

Advances in the research on biological function of NK cell receptor KIR

杀伤细胞免疫球蛋白样受体(KillerIg-likereceptor,KIR)为免疫球蛋白超家族成员,表达于NK细胞和某些T细胞亚群。KIR包括抑制型和激活型受体,其通过识别表达于靶细胞上的人类白细胞抗原1(HLA-Ⅰ)类分子,调节NK细胞的杀伤活性,在自身免疫性疾病、妊娠、移植等生理病理过程中起重要的作用。本文综述了近年来关于KIR研究的最新进展,主要包括KIR的结构、其特异性配体、KIR介导的信号传导和KIR的生物学功能。

The killer Ig-like receptors (KIRs), which are expressed on natural killer cells and some populations of T cells, belong to the immunoglobulin superfamily. KIRs, including inhibitory and activating receptors, regulate the activity of natural killer cells through recognizing the HLA-I molecules expressed on target cells, thus play importance roles in pregnancy, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and development of autoimmune disease. Here we summarize recent advances in the research of killer Ig-like receptors, including the structure and biological function of KIRs and the ligand specificities of KIR molecules.