Abstract
Few data are available regarding the recirculation of natural killer (NK) cells among human organs. Earlier studies have been often impaired by the use of markers then proved to be either not sufficiently specific for NK cells (e.g., CD57, CD56) or expressed only by subsets of NK cells (e.g., CD16). At the present, available data confirmed that human NK cells populate blood, lymphoid organs, lung, liver, uterus (during pregnancy), and gut. Several studies showed that NK cell homing appears to be subset-specific, as secondary lymphoid organs and probably several solid tissues are preferentially inhabited by CD56brightCD16neg/dull non-cytotoxic NK cells. Similar studies performed in the mouse model showed that lymph node and bone marrow are preferentially populated by CD11bdull NK cells while blood, spleen, and lung by CD27dull NK cells. Therefore, an important topic to be addressed in the human system is the contribution of factors that regulate NK cell tissue homing and egress, such as chemotactic receptors or homeostatic mechanisms. Here, we review the current knowledge on NK cell distribution in peripheral tissues and, based on recent acquisitions, we propose our view regarding the recirculation of NK cells in the human body.
Highlights
Natural killer (NK) cells are a class of lymphocytes characterized by a wide spectrum of effector functions spanning from killing of target cells, mainly tumor and virally-infected cells, to the ability to influence various steps of the immune response, such as editing dendritic cells (DCs) and influencing emerging T helper response (Moretta et al, 2003; Ferlazzo, 2005; Fink et al, 2007; Vivier et al, 2011; Morandi et al, 2012)
Several studies showed that natural killer (NK) cell homing appears to be subset-specific, as secondary lymphoid organs and probably several solid tissues are preferentially inhabited by CD56brightCD16neg/dull non-cytotoxic NK cells
CONCLUDING REMARKS Recent studies have significantly increased our knowledge on NK cell distribution in some human peripheral tissues, such as secondary lymphoid organs (SLO) and uterus
Summary
Reviewed by: Bojan Polic , Faculty of Medicine University of Rijeka, Croatia Roland Jacobs, Hannover Medical University, Germany. Few data are available regarding the recirculation of natural killer (NK) cells among human organs. Available data confirmed that human NK cells populate blood, lymphoid organs, lung, liver, uterus (during pregnancy), and gut. Several studies showed that NK cell homing appears to be subset-specific, as secondary lymphoid organs and probably several solid tissues are preferentially inhabited by CD56brightCD16neg/dull non-cytotoxic NK cells. Similar studies performed in the mouse model showed that lymph node and bone marrow are preferentially populated by CD11bdull NK cells while blood, spleen, and lung by CD27dull NK cells. We review the current knowledge on NK cell distribution in peripheral tissues and, based on recent acquisitions, we propose our view regarding the recirculation of NK cells in the human body
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