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
. 2016 Mar 1;17(3):326.
doi: 10.3390/ijms17030326.

Natural Killer Cells--An Epigenetic Perspective of Development and Regulation

Alexander Schenk  1 , Wilhelm Bloch  2 , Philipp Zimmer  3
Affiliations
Review

Natural Killer Cells--An Epigenetic Perspective of Development and Regulation

Alexander Schenk et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Based on their ability to recognize and eliminate various endo- and exogenous pathogens as well as pathological alterations, Natural Killer (NK) cells represent an important part of the cellular innate immune system. Although the knowledge about their function is growing, little is known about their development and regulation on the molecular level. Research of the past decade suggests that modifications of the chromatin, which do not affect the base sequence of the DNA, also known as epigenetic alterations, are strongly involved in these processes. Here, the impact of epigenetic modifications on the development as well as the expression of important activating and inhibiting NK-cell receptors and their effector function is reviewed. Furthermore, external stimuli such as physical activity and their influence on the epigenetic level are discussed.

Keywords: NK cell; epigenetic; exercise; histone; lymphocytes; methylation; miRNA; natural killer cell.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Epigenetic regulation of NKG2D. DNA methylation in the promoter region and deacetylated histone 3 lysine 9 (H3K9) suppress gene expression. TGF-β induces miR-1245 leading to a degradation of NKG2D mRNA. If DNA is demethylated and histones are acetylated, gene expression is more pronounced. IL-15, an inducer of NKG2D expression, represses miR-1245 synthesis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Caligiuri M.A. Human natural killer cells. Blood. 2008;112:461–469. doi: 10.1182/blood-2007-09-077438. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cooper M.A., Fehniger T.A., Turner S.C., Chen K.S., Ghaheri B.A., Ghayur T., Carson W.E., Caligiuri M.A. Human natural killer cells: A unique innate immunoregulatory role for the CD56(bright) subset. Blood. 2001;97:3146–3151. doi: 10.1182/blood.V97.10.3146. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chan H.-W., Kurago Z.B., Stewart C.A., Wilson M.J., Martin M.P., Mace B.E., Carrington M., Trowsdale J., Lutz C.T. DNA methylation maintains allele-specific KIR gene expression in human natural killer cells. J. Exp. Med. 2003;197:245–255. doi: 10.1084/jem.20021127. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Espinoza J.L., Takami A., Yoshioka K., Nakata K., Sato T., Kasahara Y., Nakao S. Human microRNA-1245 down-regulates the NKG2D receptor in natural killer cells and impairs NKG2D-mediated functions. Haematologica. 2012;97:1295–1303. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2011.058529. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schroder K., Hertzog P.J., Ravasi T., Hume D.A. Interferon-gamma: an overview of signals, mechanisms and functions. J. Leukoc. Biol. 2004;75:163–189. doi: 10.1189/jlb.0603252. - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms

Substances