Abstract
Natural killer (NK) cells can derive from the same precursors as B and T cells, however, to achieve lineage specificity, several transcription factors need to be activated or annulled. While a few important transcription factors have been identified for NK genesis the mechanisms of how this is achieved is far from resolved. Adding to the complexity of this, NK cells are found and potentially develop in diverse locations in vivo and it remains to be addressed if a common NK cell precursor seeds diverse niches and how transcription factors may differentially regulate NK cell commitment in distinct microenvironments. Here we will summarize some recent findings in NK cell commitment and discuss how a NK cell transcriptional network might be organized, while addressing some misconceptions and anomalies along the way.
Highlights
GENERAL INTRODUCTION OF NK CELLS Natural killer (NK) cell research is experiencing somewhat of a revolution
NK cells can be viewed as a “jack-of-all-trades”; a diverse lineage implicated in innate and adaptive immunity where specification to pathogen response is shaped by parameters such as maturation state, anatomical location, interaction with self-MHC-I, history of inflammation or pathogen exposure, receptor expression, growth factor responsiveness, and survival status
Analysis of the bone marrow revealed that common lymphoid progenitors (CLPs) were GFP−, a small population of GFP+ cells was detected in the FLT3− CLP fraction
Summary
Reviewed by: Roland Jacobs, Hannover Medical University, Germany John E. NK cells can be viewed as a “jack-of-all-trades”; a diverse lineage implicated in innate and adaptive immunity where specification to pathogen response is shaped by parameters such as maturation state, anatomical location, interaction with self-MHC-I, history of inflammation or pathogen exposure, receptor expression, growth factor responsiveness, and survival status Despite these advances in our understanding of effector and regulatory functions of NK cells, many key questions surrounding their origin and development remain. The origin of conventional NK (cNK) cells is the bone marrow (Haller et al, 1977) At this site, lymphoid progenitors capable of differentiating into B, T, and NK cells, either via environmental cues or stochastic gene expression, are committed toward one of these lineages (Kondo et al, 1997). A similar population was identified amongst the Lin-Sca1+CD117− fraction and while we termed the CD117low population pre-pro A and www.frontiersin.org
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