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. 2019 Jun 28;10:1397. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.01397

Figure 2.

Figure 2

Role of the microenvironment in shaping NK cell phenotype and functions: cNK cells expressing activating isoforms of the NKp30 and NKp44 receptors (NKp30a, NKp44b) which endows them with cytotoxic function, can be converted into dNK like cells. Exposure to a combination of TGF-β, IL-15 and IL-18) drives the isoform expression profile toward regulatory profile (NKp30c, NKp44a,c), a hallmark of dNK cells. This conversion is associated with the switch from cytotoxic to “helper-like” or tolerogenic effector functions associated with major changes in the secretome. How micro-environmental changes during pregnancy disorders or congenital infection might influence the dNK cell plasticity and effector functions is still an open question.