Human NK Cell Diversity in Viral Infection: Ramifications of Ramification.

Natural killer (NK) cells are a unique lymphocyte lineage with remarkable agility in the rapid destruction of virus-infected cells. They are also the most poorly understood class of lymphocyte. A spectrum of activating and inhibitory receptors at the NK cell surface leads to an unusual and difficult-to-study mechanism of cellular recognition, as well as a very high capacity for diversity at the single-cell level. Here, we review the evidence for the role of NK cells in the earliest stage of human viral infection, and in its prevention. We argue that single-cell diversity is a logical evolutionary adaptation for their position in the immune response and contributes to their ability to kill virus-infected cells. Finally, we look to the future, where emerging single-cell technologies will enable a new generation of rigorous and clinically relevant studies on NK cells accounting for all of their unique and diverse characteristics.

自然杀伤（NK）细胞是一种独特的淋巴细胞谱系，在快速摧毁病毒感染细胞方面具有显著的灵活性。它们也是人们了解最少的一类淋巴细胞。NK细胞表面一系列的激活受体和抑制受体导致了一种不同寻常且难以研究的细胞识别机制，以及在单细胞水平上具有很强的多样性。在此，我们综述了NK细胞在人类病毒感染的最早阶段及其预防中所起作用的相关证据。我们认为，单细胞多样性是其在免疫反应中所处地位的一种合理的进化适应，有助于它们杀伤病毒感染细胞的能力。最后，我们展望未来，新兴的单细胞技术将使新一代针对NK细胞的严谨且具有临床相关性的研究成为可能，这些研究将考虑到NK细胞所有独特且多样的特性。