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. 2022 Aug 3;13:953849. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.953849

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Major endogenous NK cell receptors and their associated ligands in tumor cells. NK cell function is modulated through different surface receptors which bind to ligands expressed on cancer cells. Receptors such as NCR (NKp30, NKp44, and NKp46), CD16, DNAM-1, or NKG2D/DAP10 trigger an activating NK signaling that results in a potent cytotoxic response against ligand-expressing cells. On the contrary, other receptors like PD-1, TIGIT, CD94/NKG2A, TIM-3, and KIRs, turn off NK response when bind to their cognate ligands. The combination of positive and negative signals regulates NK cell response to target cells. PD-1, Programmed Death 1; TIGIT, T cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain; TIM-3, T cell immunoglobulin and mucin-domain containing-3; KIR, Killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptor; NCRs, natural cytotoxicity receptors; DNAM-1, DNAX accessory molecule; NKG2D/DAP10, natural killer group 2D/DNAX-activation protein 10; PD-L1, Programmed Death ligand-1; HLA-E, HLA class I histocompatibility antigen, alpha chain E; HLA-A/B/C, HLA class I histocompatibility antigen, alpha chain A/B/C; NKG2D-L, NKG2D ligands; MICA/B, MHC class I polypeptide-related sequence A/B; ULBPs, UL16 binding proteins. Created with BioRender.com.