NK Cell Trafficking in Health and AutoimmunityA C

Authors: Hui Peng Zhigang Tian

Publish Date: 2013/12/24

Volume: 47, Issue: 2, Pages: 119-127

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Abstract

Natural killer NK cells represent an important subpopulation of lymphocytes that are distributed throughout the body The development of NK cells primarily occurs in the bone marrow during adult life involving several putative intermediate stages that finally result in functional maturation At steady state NK cell egress from the bone marrow to various peripheral areas is controlled by a network of adhesion molecules including integrins selectins and chemokine receptors and their corresponding ligands NK cells at different developmental stages express distinct repertoire of adhesion molecules and can therefore be recruited to different sites of the body including lymphoid and nonlymphoid tissues and NK cells undergo further differentiation dirven by local microenvironmental signals resulting in unique tissuespecific NK cells Through their abilities of cytotoxicity and cytokine production NK cells not only play key roles in the innate immune system but also participate in shaping adaptive immune responses On the basis of their heterogeneity in phenotype function and tissue distribution NK cells can be further subdivided into distinct subsets Under pathological conditions such as in autoimmune inflammatory and infectious diseases as local microenvironment changes NK cell subsets would redistribute between tissues and organs and rapidly accumulate at the local pathological sites to exert their effector functions Here we describe the development and tissue distribution of NK cell subsets in mice and humans We focus on the trafficking of NK cell subsets within the bone marrow and emigration into periphery at steady state and molecular mechanisms involved in their trafficking in autoimmune diseases

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