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CD3-negative natural killer cells express ε TCR as part of a novel molecular complex

Nature volume 341, pages 159–162 (1989)Cite this article

Abstract

NATURAL killer (NK) cells are large granular lymphocytes capable of killing tumour cells in a non-MHC restricted manner1,2. NK cells do not express cell-surface CD3, or any known target recognition structure analogous to the T cell antigen receptor (TCR) heterodimers (αβ or γδ)3–8. Consistent with their lack of expression of a CD3–TCR complex, NK cells do not require prior sensitization or antigen presentation by accessory cells to specifically recognize their tumour targets1. Although NK cells do not express CD3–TCR, they do express CD2, the target of an alternative activation pathway which is functional in both T cells and NK cells9–12. In T cells, this alternative activation pathway utilizes some component of the CD3–TCR complex as a transducer molecule that is required for mitogenesis13–15. The fact that NK cells are activated by this alternative pathway suggested that they might express a related subunit of the CD3–TCR complex capable of transducing the CD2-mediated signal. Here we show that human NK cells express the ε-chain of the TCR complex in association with additional structures not included in CD3–TCR.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Tumor Immunology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA

    Paul Anderson, Michael Caligiuri, Jerome Ritz & Stuart F. Schlossman

  2. Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA

    Paul Anderson

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  1. Paul Anderson
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  2. Michael Caligiuri
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  3. Jerome Ritz
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  4. Stuart F. Schlossman
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Anderson, P., Caligiuri, M., Ritz, J. et al. CD3-negative natural killer cells express ε TCR as part of a novel molecular complex. Nature 341, 159–162 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/341159a0

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