Table 1.

Remaining Questions and Future Directions for Studying NK and B Cell Relationship

1. Are there generalizable rules governing the role of NK cells in disparate virus infection?

a. Does the type of virus genome (e.g., DNA) or physical composition (e.g., enveloped) impact NK cell functional activity?

b. Does virus tropism or titers of infectious virions alter NK cell function?

2. Do distinct functions and B cell interactions emerge with development of adaptive NK cell subsets?

3. Are specific subsets of NK cells distinctly responsible for antiviral versus regulatory functions of these cells?

a. Will functional division of labor among NK cells subsets facilitate discrimination of the disparate receptors involved regulatory versus antiviral functions of these cells?

b. Are these differences conserved from mice to humans and can realization of the nature of such distinction further the clinical application of NK cells?

4. To what extent do NK cell contributions depend upon phase of B cell response and nature of the responding B cell subset?

NK, natural killer.