Natural killer (NK) cells are a type of lymphocyte which play a major role in the host-rejection of both cancer cells and cells infected by viruses. NK cells carry small granules in their cytoplasm which contain special proteins, termed perforin and granzymes. When NK cells release perforin in close proximity to target cells (i.e., tumorous or virus-infected cells), it forms pores in the cell membrane of the target cell through which the granzymes and associated molecules can enter, inducing apoptosis. The cytotoxic activity of NK cells is an important component of innate immunity by providing a quick body response to cancerous or virus infected cells before more specialized adaptive immunity can be generated. Understanding a drug’s effect on the cytotoxicity of NK cells is thus an important part of immunotoxicity studies aimed at identifying potential immunosuppression. 

• NCL_Method_ITA-11_June2020.pdf(PDF | 497 KB)

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Timothy Potter, Barry Neun, Jamie Rodriguez, Anna Ilinskaya, Marina Dobrovolskaia (2020). NCL Method ITA-11. (Version 2.0b). NCI Hub. doi:10.17917/GMXG-BH29

  BibTex | EndNote

1. Nanoparticles
2. NK cells