Fig. 5.

Innate cell response during cellular stress

(A) MICA is a gene located on chromosome 6 close to the HLA-B locus and is upregulated during stress response to heat shock and DNA damaging conditions and is influenced by some infectious agents, including Escherichia coli, among others. (B) NKG2D is an activating receptor of the C-type lectin-like family and is expressed on NK cells, CD8⁺ T cells, γδ T cells and NK T cells. Upon activation, it has been associated with a pro-inflammatory response. (C) MICA serves as a ligand to NKG2D and upon engagement during a stress response, the complex results in the activation of effector cytolytic function of NKG2D-expressing cells against MICA-expressing cells.