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. 2020 Dec 1;40(4):717–730. doi: 10.1038/s41388-020-01561-z

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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2020

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Fig. 1 — The NK cell can function as the innate cytotoxic effector as well as a regulator modulating both the innate and adaptive immunity. a As the innate killer cells, the stress-induced ligands (“induced self”) and decreased MHC I expression (“missing self”) level can be recognized by the activating and inhibitory receptors on NK cells respectively, the balance of which determines the NK cell activation status. b After activation, NK cells can induce the lysis of the target cells via secreting granules with granzyme B and perforin, the death receptor/ligand interaction and antibody-dependent cell cytotoxicity. c On the other hand, activated NK cells can secrete an array of cytokine and chemokine that promoting the DC maturation and recruitment, which can further modulate T-cell response including the cytotoxic CD8⁺ T-cell and Th cell activation.