Skip to main content
. 2016 Dec 12;7:588. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2016.00588

Figure 2.

Figure 2

Summary of functional effects of MICA-129 variants depending on expression intensity. (A) For target cells expressing the MICA-129Val variant, the degree of natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity and IFN-γ production increases steadily with the MICA expression intensity. Augmented expression of the high-affinity MICA-129Met isoform, in contrast, has none or even a negative effect on these NK cell functions due to a rapid downregulation of NKG2D on NK cells. (B) Antigen-dependent costimulation of CD8+ T cells with the MICA-129Met variant allows for an earlier antigen-dependent activation than costimulation with the MICA-129Val variant. However, the downregulation of NKG2D in response to MICA-129Met ligands impairs any subsequent NKG2D-dependent costimulation and T cell activation. The downregulation of NKG2D on CD8+ T cells is augmented with MICA-129Met expression intensity. The figure is reproduced from Isernhagen et al. (37).