自然杀伤细胞在感染中的研究进展

Updated research of natural killer cell in infection

自然杀伤细胞(NK细胞)是人体内一类天然免疫细胞,无需提前刺激即可杀伤靶细胞和肿瘤细胞,在抗感染及抗肿瘤过程中发挥重要作用。NK细胞的发育、分化及功能等均不同于T细胞和B细胞。感染过程中NK细胞主要通过活化信号和抑制信号的共同调节来发挥杀伤作用,而在病原体感染早期发挥免疫杀伤功能。此外,NK细胞还可释放细胞因子进行免疫调节,并作为连接天然免疫和适应性免疫的桥梁。NK细胞还具有记忆性,也可特异性对抗病毒感染。总之,NK细胞在感染过程中发挥不可替代的作用。本综述对于NK细胞亚群分类、受体及其在抗感染过程中的研究进展作详细介绍。

Natural killer(NK) cells are innate lymphocytes, which do not require pre-stimulation to kill target cells and tumor cells. NK cells serve a very important role in the process of anti-infection and antitumor. Unlike T or B lymphocytes, there is large heterogeneity within the NK cells population in each stage of development, differentiation and function. During the infection, the activities of NK cells are regulated by the interaction of stimulatory and inhibitory signals on the cell surfaces. Besides, NK cells also secret inflammatory cytokines for immunoregulation, and act as a bridge between innate and adaptive immunity.Besides, NK cells could exert immunological memory, generating antigen-specific memory NK cells. In conclusion, NK cells play an irreplaceable role in anti-infection. This review provides a detailed overview of the subset classification of NK cells, surface receptors and recent progress in anti-infection.