Natural Killer (NK) cells are large granular lymphocytes of the innate immune system. They are widespread throughout the body, being present in both lymphoid organs and non-lymphoid peripheral tissues. NK cells are involved in direct innate immune reactions against viruses, bacteria, parasites and other triggers of pathology, such as malignant transformation, all of which cause stress in affected cells. Importantly, NK cells also link the innate and adaptive immune responses, contributing to the initiation of adaptive immune responses and executing adaptive responses using the CD16 FcgRIIIA immunoglobulin Fc receptor. Such responses are mediated through two major effector functions, the direct cytolysis of target cells and the production of cytokines and chemokines. The authors focus here on the nature of recognition events by NK cells and address how these events are integrated to trigger these distinct and graded effector functions.

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Strategies of Natural Killer Cell Recognition and Signaling.- Signal Transduction in Natural Killer Cells.- Transcriptional Regulation of NK Cell Receptors.- Extending Missing-Self? Functional Interactions Between Lectin-like Nkrp1 Receptors on NK Cells with Lectin-like Ligands.- The CD2 Family of Natural Killer Cell Receptors.- Immunobiology of Human NKG2D and Its Ligands.- NKG2 Receptor-Mediated Regulation of Effector CTL Functions in the Human Tissue Microenvironment.- Dendritic Cell-NK Cell Cross-Talk: Regulation and Physiopathology.- NK Cell Activating Receptors and Tumor Recognition in Humans.- NK Cell Recognition of Mouse Cytomegalovirus-Infected Cells.- NK Cell Receptors Involved in the Response to Human Cytomegalovirus Infection.- The Impact of Variation at the KIR Gene Cluster on Human Disease.- NK Cells in Autoimmune Disease.