Mar Valés

TUMOUR INMUNE ACTIVATION AND EVASION

NKG2D is an activating immune receptor constitutively expressed in humans in most cytotoxic lymphocytes including NK and CD8+ T cells; in mice it is expressed on NK cells, but on T cells only after activation. After binding of its ligands, NKG2D activates the mechanisms that lead to lysis and cytokine secretion by immune effector cells. It thus seems reasonable that NKG2D ligands are not expressed constitutively on all cell types. Instead, their pattern of expression is affected by cell stress.