Natural killer (NK) cells have been demonstrated to inhibit tumor growth. However, the role of NK cells in the inhibition of hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis is not well understood. The present study aimed to investigate the roles that NK cells may serve in inhibiting hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis. The role of isolated NK cells in the inhibition, proliferation, migration and invasion o...

Natural killer (NK) cell-mediated antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) has been linked to protection from HIV infection and slower progression towards AIDS. However, antibody-dependent activation of NK cells results in phenotypical alterations similar to those observed on NK cells from individuals with progressive HIV infection. Activation of NK cells induces matrix metalloproteinase...

Natural killer (NK) cells have been known to enhance the host immune responses against cancer. NK cell number and cytotoxicity in patients with cancer is often low. Therefore, we developed a large-scale ex vivo NK cell expansion method without feeder layers and introduced NK cell-based autologous immune enhancement therapy (AIET). In this paper, we discuss the epidemiological data that show the...

Two human natural killer (NK) cell subsets are usually distinguished, displaying the CD56(dim)CD16(+) and the CD56(bright)CD16(-/+) phenotype. This distinction is based on NK cells present in blood, where the CD56(dim) NK cells predominate. However, CD56(bright) NK cells outnumber CD56(dim) NK cells in the human body due to the fact that they are predominant in peripheral and lymphoid tissues. ...

Complement receptor 3 (CR3) is expressed abundantly on natural killer (NK) cells; however, whether it plays roles in NK cell-dependent tumor surveillance is largely unknown. Here, we show that CR3 is an important negative regulator of NK cell function, which has negative impact on tumor surveillance. Mice deficient in CR3 (CD11b-/- mice) exhibited a more activated NK phenotype and had enhanced ...

Natural killer (NK) cell activity is conserved throughout vertebrate development, but characterization of non-mammalian NK-cells has been hampered by the absence of specific mAbs for these cells. Monoclonal antibodies were generated against in vitro IL-2 expanded sorted CD3-CD8alpha+ peripheral blood lymphocytes, previously described to contain chicken NK-cells. Screening of embryonic and adult...

Natural killer (NK) cells produce interferon (IFN)-γ and thus have been suggested to promote type I immunity during bacterial infections. Yet, Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) and some other pathogens encode proteins that cause increased NK cell activation. Here, we show that stimulation of NK cell activation increases susceptibility during Lm infection despite and independent from robust NK cell pr...

lactic acid bacteria which are  used  as  probiotics  have  ability to  modulate  immune responses and modify immune mechanisms. it has also been indicated that some strains of this family can affect the immune responses against solid tumors. in the present work, we proposed to study the effects of oral administration of l.cacesi ssp casei on the nk cells cytotoxicity and also production of cyt...

Natural killer cells (NK) were studied to determine factors important in their expansion. Flourescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) purified CD56+/CD3- NK cells cultured alone for 18 days in rIL-2 containing medium (1,000 U/mL) showed enhanced cytotoxicity but only minimal expansion. NK expansion was increased (12.5 +/- 1.6-fold) by coculturing NK with soluble factors produced by irradiated per...

Natural killer (NK) cells are generally reported as innate effector cells for killing virally infected and transformed cells. It is unclear how NK cells evoke adaptive immunity to eradicate tumors. We now demonstrate that the TNF superfamily member, LIGHT, known as TNFSF14 and a T-cell costimulatory molecule, is a critical ligand for the activation of NK cells. Herpesvirus entry mediator (HVEM)...