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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2008 Nov 25.
Published in final edited form as: Immunol Rev. 2008 Aug;224:70–84. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-065X.2008.00660.x

Fig. 1. Early model for inhibitory signalling by KIR in NK cells.

Fig. 1

Sequential steps in the inhibition of NK cells by KIR: Binding of inhibitory KIR to HLA-C on target cells; KIR clustering; phosphorylation of two tyrosines within cytoplasmic ITIM sequences; recruitment and activation of the tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 to the tyrosine-phosphorylated ITIMs; dephosphorylation of multiple substrates, such as activation receptors and signalling molecules (X, Y) by catalytically active SHP-1. The Src-family kinase that phosphorylates the ITIMs may be provided in trans by activation receptors. Inhibitory molecules are indicated in red, activation receptors in green.