Several studies described an association between killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR)/HLA gene combinations and clinical outcomes in various diseases. In particular, an important combined role for KIR3DS1 and HLA-B Bw4-I80 in controlling viral infections and a higher protection against leukemic relapses in donor equipped with activating KIRs in haplo-HSCT has been described. Here, we ...

Interactions between HLA class I molecules and killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) control natural killer cell (NK) functions in immunity and reproduction. Encoded by genes on different chromosomes, these polymorphic ligands and receptors correlate highly with disease resistance and susceptibility. Although studied at low-resolution in many populations, high-resolution analysis of c...

There is growing interest in HIV-specific antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) as an effective immune response to prevent or control HIV infection. ADCC relies on innate immune effector cells, particularly NK cells, to mediate control of virus-infected cells. The activation of NK cells (i.e., expression of cytokines and/or degranulation) by ADCC antibodies in serum is likely subject ...

KIR3DL1 is a polymorphic, inhibitory NK cell receptor specific for the Bw4 epitope carried by subsets of HLA-A and HLA-B allotypes. The Bw4 epitope of HLA-B*5101 and HLA-B*1513 is determined by the NIALR sequence motif at positions 77, 80, 81, 82, and 83 in the alpha(1) helix. Mutation of these positions to the residues present in the alternative and nonfunctional Bw6 motif showed that the func...

Natural killer (NK) cells that express the NKB1 receptor are inhibited from killing target cells that possess human histocompatibility leukocyte antigen (HLA) B molecules bearing the Bw4 serological epitope. To investigate whether NKB1 expression is affected by HLA type, peripheral blood lymphocytes of 203 HLA-typed donors were examined. Most donors had a single population of NKB1+ cells, but s...

NKB1 is one member of a growing family of killer cell inhibitory receptors (KIR). It is expressed on natural killer (NK) cells and T cells, and has been shown to inhibit cytolytic functions of these cells upon interacting with its ligand, HLA-B (Bw4). We demonstrate here that the cytoplasmic region of NKB1 is capable of inhibiting T cell activation in Jurkat cells. The tyrosine phosphorylation ...

The crucial immunological function of the classical human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules, human histocompatibility leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A, -B, and -C, is the presentation of peptides to T cells. A secondary function is the inhibition of natural killer (NK) cells, mediated by binding of class I molecules to NK receptors. In contrast, the function of the nonclassical ...