Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Feb 13.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Rev Immunol. 2011 Mar;11(3):176–186. doi: 10.1038/nri2935

Figure 3. DC–NK cell crosstalk.

Figure 3

Dendritic cells (DCs) are activated by HIV-1 and secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-12 (IL-12), IL-15 and type I interferon (IFN) that stimulate natural killer (NK) cells. Activated NK cells secrete IFNγ that promotes DC maturation and skewing towards T helper 1 (TH1)-type immune responses. Furthermore, NK cells can eliminate incompletely matured DCs, and promote the induction of adaptive T cell immunity through this editing process. HIV-1-induced functional impairment of NK cells, as well as of DCs, interferes with this crosstalk.