Abstract
Killer immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) are expressed by natural killer (NK) cells and by subsets of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, which are therefore thought to be subject to similar regulatory mechanisms. Here, we show that the transcriptional machinery to express KIR is limited to NK and T cells; however, the KIR transcriptional control differs between these two types of lymphocytes. T cells selectively express transcriptional activators binding to positions -52 to -61 of the KIR promoter, whereas an AML site around position-98 is relevant for transcription in NK cells. Although KIR expression is restricted to subsets of memory T cells, our studies demonstrate that transcriptional activators for KIRs are not acquired during T cell differentiation but are already present in naïve T cells, suggesting a basic role of KIRs in T cell biology. We suggest that the regulated expression of KIRs in T cells profoundly influences peripheral tolerance and antigen-specific immune responses.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 24277-24285 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of Biological Chemistry |
Volume | 280 |
Issue number | 25 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 24 2005 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry
- Molecular Biology
- Cell Biology