Natural killer (NK) cells kill normal and transformed hematopoietic cells that lack expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I antigens. Lysis of HLA-negative Epstein Barr virus-transformed B lymphoblastoid call lines (B-LCL) by human NK cell clones can be inhibited by transfection of the target cells with certain HLA-A, -I3, or -C alleles. NK cell clones established from an i...

BACKGROUND & AIM There is evidence that maternal viral load of HCV during delivery influences the risk for Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT), but this does not explain all cases. We study the role of the immunogenetic profile (HLA, KIRs and KIR-ligand binding) of mothers and children in HCV-MTCT and in chronicity in the children. METHODOLOGY 79 HCV-RNA (+) mothers and their 98 children were...