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Review
. 2012:2012:195956.
doi: 10.1155/2012/195956. Epub 2012 Nov 20.

NK cells in healthy aging and age-associated diseases

Xavier Camous  1 , Alejandra Pera, Rafael Solana, Anis Larbi
Affiliations
Review

NK cells in healthy aging and age-associated diseases

Xavier Camous et al. J Biomed Biotechnol. 2012.

Abstract

NK cells exhibit the highest cytotoxic capacity within the immune system. Alteration of their number or functionality may have a deep impact on overall immunity. This is of particular relevance in aging where the elderly population becomes more susceptible to infection, cancer, autoimmune diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases amongst others. As the fraction of elderly increases worldwide, it becomes urgent to better understand the aging of the immune system to prevent and cure the elderly population. For this, a better understanding of the function and phenotype of the different immune cells and their subsets is necessary. We review here NK cell functions and phenotype in healthy aging as well as in various age-associated diseases.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
NK cell phenotype and functions in healthy aging. Increase and decrease in the NK-related parameters during aging are depicted. For example, NK cell proliferation is reduced.
Figure 2
Figure 2
NK cell phenotype and functions in age-associated diseases. The functionality of NK cells in the different diseases is depicted. AD: Alzheimer's disease; OA: osteoarthritis; CHD: cardiovascular/heart diseases; AS: atherosclerosis; AMD: age-related macular degeneration.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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