Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2013 Dec 30:4:499.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2013.00499.

Signatures of human NK cell development and terminal differentiation

Merlin Luetke-Eversloh  1 , Monica Killig  1 , Chiara Romagnani  1
Affiliations
Review

Signatures of human NK cell development and terminal differentiation

Merlin Luetke-Eversloh et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

Natural killer (NK) cells are part of the innate lymphoid cell (ILC) family and represent the main cytotoxic population. NK cells develop from bone marrow common lymphoid progenitors and undergo terminal differentiation in the periphery, where they finally gain their cytotoxic competence as well as the ability to produce IFN-γ in response to engagement of activating receptors. This process has been at least partially elucidated and several markers have been identified to discriminate different NK cell stages and other ILC populations. NK cell terminal differentiation is not only associated with progressive phenotypic changes but also with defined effector signatures. In this essay, we will describe the phenotypic and functional characteristics of the main stages of NK cell development and terminal differentiation and discuss them in light of recent discoveries of novel ILC populations.

Keywords: CD57; CD62L; IFN-γ; ILC; KIR; NK cells; NKG2A; differentiation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic representation of human NK cell development and terminal differentiation. The development of human NK cells from a common lymphoid progenitor over NK cell precursors to terminally differentiated NK cells is depicted from left to right. The acquisition and loss of indicated surface markers and functional properties propose a linear model of human NK cell development and terminal differentiation. Protein expression levels are depicted as black for high expression and white for no expression, gray indicates intermediate levels. Functional properties are indicated correspondingly. Abbreviations: common lymphoid progenitor (CLP), bone marrow (BM), peripheral blood (PB), secondary lymphoid organs (SLO). See also Ref. –.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Spits H, Artis D, Colonna M, Diefenbach A, Di Santo JP, Eberl G, et al. Innate lymphoid cells – a proposal for uniform nomenclature. Nat Rev Immunol (2013) 13(2):145–910.1038/nri3365 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bernink JH, Peters CP, Munneke M, te Velde AA, Meijer SL, Weijer K, et al. Human type 1 innate lymphoid cells accumulate in inflamed mucosal tissues. Nat Immunol (2013) 14(3):221–910.1038/ni.2534 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fuchs A, Vermi W, Lee JS, Lonardi S, Gilfillan S, Newberry RD, et al. Intraepithelial type 1 innate lymphoid cells are a unique subset of IL-12- and IL-15-responsive IFN-gamma-producing cells. Immunity (2013) 38(4):769–8110.1016/j.immuni.2013.02.010 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Spits H, Cupedo T. Innate lymphoid cells: emerging insights in development, lineage relationships, and function. Annu Rev Immunol (2012) 30:647–7510.1146/annurev-immunol-020711-075053 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mebius RE, Miyamoto T, Christensen J, Domen J, Cupedo T, Weissman IL, et al. The fetal liver counterpart of adult common lymphoid progenitors gives rise to all lymphoid lineages, CD45+CD4+CD3- cells, as well as macrophages. J Immunol (2001) 166(11):6593–601 - PubMed