Natural killer cells: Primary target for hepatitis C virus immune evasion strategies?
- 1 March 2006
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) in Liver Transplantation
- Vol. 12 (3), 363-372
- https://doi.org/10.1002/lt.20708
Abstract
Liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma secondary to chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection requiring transplantation represents a significant public health problem. The most remarkable feature of hepatitis C virus is the ability to establish chronic infection in the vast majority of cases. Efforts to define clinical correlates of HCV persistence have focused primarily on CD4 and CD8 T cell responses. Until recently, the role of innate immunity in determining the outcome of HCV infection had received relatively little attention. Natural killer (NK) cells are an important antiviral effector population eliminating virus through direct killing and cytokine production. Recent studies highlighting the cross‐talk between NK cells, dendritic cells (DCs) and T cells have prompted reevaluation of the important role NK cells play in regulating and maintaining specific immune responses. Like many other viruses, HCV has evolved strategies to evade detection and elimination by NK cells. T cell defects observed in HCV infection may be a consequence of inhibition of NK:DC interactions. We propose a theoretical model for HCV persistence that places the NK cell at the center of HCV immune evasion strategies. While this model is only theoretical, it provides a plausible interpretation of many published observations and a useful working model to test the role of NK cells in HCV persistence. In conclusion, the role of innate immune cells and their regulation of antigen‐specific responses by the initial innate response to the virus, in particular NK cells, may prove to be an informative and clinically relevant avenue of investigation. Liver Transpl 12:363–372, 2006. © 2006 AASLD.Keywords
This publication has 99 references indexed in Scilit:
- Pathogen-induced private conversations between natural killer and dendritic cellsTrends in Microbiology, 2005
- Comparable functions of plasmacytoid and monocyte-derived dendritic cells in chronic hepatitis C patients and healthy donorsJournal of Hepatology, 2005
- Cross-talk between dendritic cells and natural killer cells in viral infectionMolecular Immunology, 2004
- Decrease in CD3-negative-CD8dim+ and Vδ2/Vγ9 TcR+ peripheral blood lymphocyte counts, low perforin expression and the impairment of natural killer cell activity is associated with chronic hepatitis C virus infectionJournal of Hepatology, 2002
- Decrease in hepatic CD56+ T cells and Vα24+ natural killer T cells in chronic hepatitis C viral infectionJournal of Hepatology, 2002
- Low Stimulatory Capacity of Lymphoid Dendritic Cells Expressing Hepatitis C Virus GenesBiochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 1998
- How to recongnize a foreign submarineImmunological Reviews, 1997
- The Cytokine Profile of Resting and Activated NK CellsMethods, 1996
- Intrahepatic mononuclear cell populations and MHC antigen expression in patients with chronic hepatitis B: Effect of interferon-αDigestive Diseases and Sciences, 1994
- In search of the ‘missing self’: MHC molecules and NK cell recognitionImmunology Today, 1990