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Natural Killer Cells: Tumor Surveillance and Signaling
- Source :
- Cancers, Vol 12, Iss 952, p 952 (2020), Cancers
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- MDPI AG, 2020.
-
Abstract
- Natural killer (NK) cells play a pivotal role in cancer immunotherapy due to their innate ability to detect and kill tumorigenic cells. The decision to kill is determined by the expression of a myriad of activating and inhibitory receptors on the NK cell surface. Cell-to-cell engagement results in either self-tolerance or a cytotoxic response, governed by a fine balance between the signaling cascades downstream of the activating and inhibitory receptors. To evade a cytotoxic immune response, tumor cells can modulate the surface expression of receptor ligands and additionally, alter the conditions in the tumor microenvironment (TME), tilting the scales toward a suppressed cytotoxic NK response. To fully harness the killing power of NK cells for clinical benefit, we need to understand what defines the threshold for activation and what is required to break tolerance. This review will focus on the intracellular signaling pathways activated or suppressed in NK cells and the roles signaling intermediates play during an NK cytotoxic response.
- Subjects :
- 0301 basic medicine
Cancer Research
medicine.medical_treatment
Cell
Review
NK cells
lcsh:RC254-282
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Immune system
Natural Killer cells
Cancer immunotherapy
medicine
Cytotoxic T cell
Receptor
activating receptors
Tumor microenvironment
Interferon-gamma production
Chemistry
immune surveillance
lcsh:Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens
Cell biology
inhibitory receptors
030104 developmental biology
medicine.anatomical_structure
Oncology
030220 oncology & carcinogenesis
Immunoglobulin superfamily
signaling
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 20726694
- Volume :
- 12
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Cancers
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....315a4d3b1e5266b9c9b6a2a1958e4bec
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers12040952