1. In the vertebrate retina, the inwardly rectifying K+ (KIR) channels of the Müller (glial) cells are pathways for the redistribution of excess extracellular K+. Due to this role in K+ homeostasis, the activity of Müller cell KIR channels is likely to have significant functional consequences for the retina. In this study we asked whether intracellular ATP regulates the function of KIR channels...

BACKGROUND Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) can be curative for many hematologic diseases. However, complications such as graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and relapse of primary malignancy remain significant and are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Effects of killer Ig-like receptors (KIR)-influenced NK cells on HCT outcomes have been extensively pursued over th...

The function of inwardly rectifying K+ (Kir) channels is highly diverse and therefore is tightly regulated by various environmental factors. In their article in this issue of Neuron, Rapedius et al. recognize a conserved structural mechanism for Kir channels gating by both pH and PIP2. In light of these findings and accumulated knowledge, PIP2 is suggested to have a common coregulatory role in ...

OBJECTIVE The genes for killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) have been cloned and their functions and expression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have been partially clarified. However, the correlation between their expression and disease activity has not been analyzed in patients with RA. Thus, we measured KIR expression on lymphocytes in patients with RA, and assessed th...

Killer Ig-like receptors (KIRs) are implicated in protection from multiple pathogens including HIV, human papillomavirus, and malaria. Nonhuman primates such as rhesus and cynomolgus macaques are important models for the study of human pathogens; however, KIR genetics in nonhuman primates are poorly defined. Understanding KIR allelic diversity and genomic organization are essential prerequisite...

Killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) genes form a diverse, immunogenetic system. Group A and B KIR haplotypes have distinctive centromeric (Cen) and telomeric (Tel) gene-content motifs. Aiming to develop a donor selection strategy to improve transplant outcome, we compared the contribution of these motifs to the clinical benefit conferred by B haplotype donors. We KIR genotyped donors...

INTRODUCTION Natural killer (NK) cells possess an antitumor activity against multiple myeloma cells proven by the susceptibility of plasmocytes to NK lysis. In the early stage of MM, the killing of MM cells is mediated by natural cytotoxicity receptors (NRC) and NKG2D-dependent pathway, while in the late stage, NK cells lose their killing potential against MM cells due to the high expression of...

Killer immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) on natural killer (NK) cells interact with other immune cells to monitor the immune system and combat infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis (TB). The balance of activating and inhibiting KIR interactions helps determine the NK cell response. In order to examine the enrichment or depletion of KIRs as well as to explore the association between TB sta...

Human birth weight is subject to stabilizing selection; babies born too small or too large are less likely to survive. Particular combinations of maternal/fetal immune system genes are associated with pregnancies where the babies are ≤ 5th birth weight centile, specifically an inhibitory maternal KIR AA genotype with a paternally derived fetal HLA-C2 ligand. We have now analyzed maternal KIR an...