MHC class I molecules and kirs in human history, health and survival (original) (raw)

• Gumperz, J. E. & Parham, P. The enigma of the natural killer cell. Nature 378, 245–248 (1995).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Kasahara, M., Suzuki, T. & Du Pasquier, L. On the origins of the adaptive immune system: novel insights from invertebrates and cold-blooded vertebrates. Trends Immunol. 25, 105–111 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Pancer, Z. et al. Somatic diversification of variable lymphocyte receptors in the agnathan sea lamprey. Nature 430, 174–180 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Flajnik, M. F. & Du Pasquier, L. Evolution of innate and adaptive immunity: can we draw a line? Trends Immunol. 25, 640–644 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Veinotte, L. L., Wilhelm, B. T., Mager, D. L. & Takei, F. Acquisition of MHC-specific receptors on murine natural killer cells. Crit. Rev. Immunol. 23, 251–266 (2003).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Moretta, L. & Moretta, A. Unravelling natural killer cell function: triggering and inhibitory human NK receptors. EMBO J. 23, 255–259 (2003).
  Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
• Raulet, D. H. Interplay of natural killer cells and their receptors with the adaptive immune response. Nature Immunol. 5, 996–1002 (2004).
  Article CAS Google Scholar
• Chien, Y. -H., Jores, R. & Crowley, M. P. Recognition by γδ cells. Annu. Rev. Immunol. 14, 511–532 (1996).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Snyder, M. R., Weyand, C. M. & Goronzy, J. J. The double life of NK receptors: stimulation or co-stimulation? Trends Immunol. 25, 25–32 (2004). A thorough up-to-date review of NK-cell-receptor expression by T cells.
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Kasahara, M. The chromosomal duplication model of the major histocompatibility complex. Immunol. Rev. 167, 17–32 (1999).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Weil, A. Mammalian evolution: onwards and upwards. Nature 416, 798–799 (2002).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Mestas, J. & Hughes, C. C. W. Of mice and not men: differences between mouse and human immunology. J. Immunol. 172, 2731–2738 (2004). A short review that begins serious discussion in print about the fact (of which immunologists seem to be in collective denial) that there are considerable differences between the human immune system and that of the favoured animal model, the mouse.
  Article CAS Google Scholar
• Trowsdale, J. & Parham, P. Defense strategies and immunity-related genes. Eur. J. Immunol. 34, 7–17 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Trowsdale, J. T. Genetic and functional relationships between MHC and NK receptor genes. Immunity 15, 363–374 (2001).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Anderson, S. K., Ortaldo, J. R. & McVicar, D. W. The ever-expanding Ly49 gene family: repertoire and signaling. Immunol. Rev. 181, 79–89 (2001).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Vilches, C. & Parham, P. KIR: diverse, rapidly evolving receptors of innate and adaptive immunity. Annu. Rev. Immunol. 20, 217–251 (2002).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Yokoyama, W. M. & Plougastel, B. F. Immune functions encoded by the natural killer gene complex. Nature Rev. Immunol. 3, 304–316 (2003).
  Article CAS Google Scholar
• Martin, A. M., Kulski, J. K., Witt, C., Pontarotti, P. & Christiansen, F. T. Leukocyte Ig-like receptor complex (LRC) in mice and men. Trends Immunol. 23, 81–88 (2002).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Wilhelm, B. T. & Mager, D. L. Rapid expansion of the Ly49 gene cluster in rat. Genomics 84, 218–221 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Proteau, M. -F., Rousselle, E. & Makrigiannis, A. P. Mapping of the BALB/c Ly49 cluster defines a minimal natural killer cell receptor gene repertoire. Genomics 84, 669–677 (2004). Comparison of three mouse Ly49 haplotypes shows how the overall organization of the Ly49 locus is similar to the human KIR locus.
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Mager, D. L., McQueen, K. L., Wee, V. & Freeman, J. D. Evolution of natural killer cell receptors: coexistence of functional Ly49 and KIR genes in baboons. Curr. Biol. 11, 626–630 (2001).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Welch, A. Y., Kasahara, M. & Spain, L. M. Identification of the mouse killer immunoglobulin-like (Kirl) gene family mapping to chromosome X. Immunogenetics 54, 782–790 (2003).
  CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Hoelsbrekken, S. E. et al. Molecular cloning of a killer cell Ig-like receptor in the mouse and rat. J. Immunol. 170, 2259–2263 (2003).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Daza-Vamenta, R., Glusman, G., Rowen, L., Guthrie, B. & Geraghty, D. E. Genetic divergence of the rhesus macaque major histocompatibility complex. Genome Res. 14, 1501–1515 (2004). This genomic analysis, which describes the complete sequence of an MHC class I region from the rhesus monkey and compares it with the human counterpart, exemplifies the magnitude of change that is possible in gene families of the immune system within relatively short periods of evolutionary time.
  Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
• Kulski, J. K., Anzai, T., Shiina, T. & Inoko, H. Rhesus macaque class I duplicon structures, organization and evolution within the α block of the major histocompatibility complex. Mol. Biol. Evol. 21, 2079–2091 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• LaBonte, M. L., Hershberger, K. L., Korber, B. & Letvin, N. L. The KIR and CD94/NKG2 families of molecules in the rhesus monkey. Immunol. Rev. 183, 25–40 (2001).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Sambrook, J. G. et al. Single haplotype analysis demonstrates rapid evolution of the killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) loci in primates. Genome Res. 15, 25–35 (2005).
  Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
• Stewart, C. A. et al. Complete MHC haplotype sequencing for common disease gene mapping. Genome Res. 14, 1176–1187 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
• Adams, E. J., Thomson, G. & Parham, P. Evidence for an HLA-C-like locus in the orangutan Pongo pygmaeus. Immunogenetics 49, 865–871 (1999).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Colonna, M., Boresellino, G., Falco, M., Ferrara, G. B. & Strominer, J. L. HLA-C is the inhibitory ligand that determines dominant resistance to lysis by NK1- and NK2-specific natural killer cells. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 90, 12000–12004 (1993). This paper describes the discovery of the C1 and C2 motifs of HLA-C as the genetic factors that determine the specificity of two types of alloreactive NK cell.
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Khakoo, S. I. et al. Rapid evolution of NK cell receptor systems demonstrated by comparison of chimpanzees and humans. Immunity 12, 687–698 (2000).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Guethlein, L. A., Flodin, L. R., Adams, E. J. & Parham, P. NK cell receptors of the orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus): a pivotal species for tracking the coevolution of killer cell Ig-like receptors with MHC-C. J. Immunol. 169, 220–229 (2002).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Boyington, J. C. & Sun, P. D. A structural perspective on MHC class I recognition by killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors. Mol. Immunol. 38, 1007–1021 (2002). An insightful and informed review of the structural biology of the KIR–HLA class I interaction.
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Moretta, A. et al. Existence of both inhibitory (p58) and activatory (p50) receptors for HLA-C molecules in human natural killer cells. J. Exp. Med. 182, 875–884 (1995).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Biassoni, R. et al. Role of amino acid position 70 in the binding affinity of p50.1 and p58.1 receptors for HLA-Cw4 molecules. Eur. J. Immunol. 27, 3095–3099 (1997).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Vales-Gomez, M., Reyburn, H. T., Erskine, R. A. & Strominger, J. L. Differential binding to HLA-C of p50-activating and p58-inhibitory natural killer cell receptors. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 95, 14326–14331 (1998).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Winter, C. C., Gumperz, J. E., Parham, P., Long, E. O. & Wagtmann, N. Direct binding and functional transfer of NK cell inhibitory receptors reveal novel patterns of HLA-C allotype recognition. J. Immunol. 161, 571–577 (1998).
  CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Saulquin, X., Gastinel, L. N. & Vivier, E. Crystal structure of the human natural killer activating receptor KIR2DS2 (CD158j). J. Exp. Med. 197, 933–938 (2003).
  Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
• Wan, A. M., Ennis, P., Parham, P. & Holmes, N. The primary structure of HLA-A32 suggests a region involved in formation of the Bw4/Bw6 epitopes. J. Immunol. 137, 3671–3674 (1986).
  CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Cella, M., Longo, A., Ferrara, G. B., Strominger, J. L. & Colonna, M. NK3-specific natural killer cells are selectively inhibited by Bw4-positive HLA alleles with isoleucine 80. J. Exp. Med. 180, 1235–1242 (1994).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Gumperz, J. E., Litwin, V., Phillips, J. H., Lanier, L. L. & Parham, P. The Bw4 public epitope of HLA-B molecules confers reactivity with natural killer cell clones that express NKB1, a putative HLA receptor. J. Exp. Med. 181, 1133–1144 (1995).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Adams, E. J. and Parham, P. Species-specific evolution of MHC class I genes in the higher primates. Immunol. Rev. 183, 41–64 (2001).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Gardiner, C. M. et al. Different NK cell surface phenotypes defined by the DX9 antibody are due to KIR3DL1 polymorphism. J. Immunol. 166, 2992–3001 (2001).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Uhrberg, M. et al. Human diversity in killer cell inhibitory receptor genes. Immunity 7, 753–763 (1997). This paper describes the discovery of the variation and diversity in gene content of human KIR haplotypes and the existence of the group A and group B KIR haplotypes.
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Wilson, M. J. et al. Plasticity in the organization and sequences of human KIR/ILT gene families. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 97, 4778–4783 (2000).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Shilling, H. G. et al. Allelic polymorphism synergizes with variable gene content to individualize human KIR genotype. J. Immunol. 168, 2307–2315 (2002).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Marsh, S. G. E. et al. Killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) nomenclature report, 2002. Immunogenetics 55, 220–226 (2003).
  Article PubMed Google Scholar
• Moffett-King, A. Natural killer cells and pregnancy. Nature Rev. Immunol. 2, 656–663 (2002).
  Article CAS Google Scholar
• Lopez-Botet, M., Angulo, A. & Guma, M. Natural killer cell receptors for major histocompatibility complex class I and related molecules in cytomegalovirus infection. Tissue Antigens 63, 195–203 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Brown, D., Trowsdale, J. & Allen, R. The LILR family: modulators of innate and adaptive immune pathways in health and disease. Tissue Antigens 64, 215–225 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Rajagopalan, S. & Long, E. O. A human histocompatibility leukocyte antigen (HLA)-G-specific receptor expressed on all natural killer cells. J. Exp. Med. 189, 1093–1100 (1999).
  Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
• Witt, C. S. et al. Alleles of the KIR2DL4 receptor and their lack of association with pre-eclampsia. Eur. J. Immunol. 32, 18–29 (2002).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Gomez-Lozano, N., de Pablo, R., Puente, S. & Vilches, C. Recognition of HLA-G by the NK cell receptor KIR2DL4 is not essential for human reproduction. Eur. J. Immunol. 33, 639–644 (2003).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Hiby, S. E. et al. Combinations of maternal KIR and fetal HLA-C genes influence the risk of preeclampsia and reproductive success. J. Exp. Med. 200, 957–965 (2004). This comparison of maternal and fetal KIR and HLA genotypes in normal and pre-eclamptic pregnancies shows that the combination of maternal homozygosity for group A KIR haplotypes and fetal HLA-C2 predisposes women to pre-eclampsia. These authors also discovered the inverse correlation between the frequencies of group A KIR haplotypes and HLA-C2 in human populations.
  Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
• Varla-Leftherioti, M. et al. Natural killer (NK) cell receptors' repertoire in couples with recurrent spontaneous abortions. Am. J. Reprod. Immunol. 49, 183–191 (2003).
  Article PubMed Google Scholar
• Lanier, L. L. Natural killer cell receptor signaling. Curr. Opin. Immunol. 15, 308–314 (2003).
  Article CAS Google Scholar
• Leibson, P. J. The regulation of lymphocyte activation by inhibitory receptors. Curr. Opin. Immunol. 16, 328–336 (2004). References 56 and 57 provide an excellent introduction to NK-cell-receptor signalling, a subject not covered in the current review.
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Yawata, M. et al. Predominance of group A KIR haplotypes in Japanese associated with diverse NK cell repertoires of KIR expression. Immunogenetics 54, 543–550 (2002).
  Article PubMed Google Scholar
• Ashkar, A. A., Di Santo, J. P. & Croy, B. A. Interferon γ contributes to initiation of uterine vascular modification, decidual integrity and uterine natural killer maturation during normal pregnancy. J. Exp. Med. 192, 259–270 (2000). Although placental anatomy differs between humans and mice, the abundance of NK cells in the uterine wall is a common feature. Genetically modified mice that lack NK cells manage to reproduce, but in pregnancy, there is poor remodelling of the vasculature that supplies the fetus with blood. This inadequacy can be remedied simply by injecting the mice with IFN-γ, a cytokine that is characteristically produced by NK cells.
  Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
• Khakoo, S. I. et al. HLA and NK cell inhibitory receptor genes in resolving hepatitis C virus infection. Science 305, 872–874 (2004). This epidemiological analysis of cohorts of HCV-infected individuals from the United States and the United Kingdom found that resolution of an acute infection is favoured in individuals who are homozygous for both KIR2DL3 and HLA-C1 . This was the first paper to report a disease association with an inhibitory KIR.
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Orange, J. S. Human natural killer cell deficiencies and susceptibility to infection. Microbes Infect. 4, 1545–1558 (2002). The most comprehensive review of human NK-cell deficiencies.
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Moretta, A. Natural killer cells and dendritic cells: rendezvous in abused tissues. Nature Rev. Immunol. 2, 957–964 (2002).
  Article CAS Google Scholar
• Martin, M. P. et al. Epistatic interaction between KIR3DS1 and HLA-B delays the progression to AIDS. Nature Genet. 31, 429–434 (2002).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Hansasuta, P. et al. Recognition of HLA-A3 and HLA-A11 by KIR3DL2 is peptide-specific. Eur. J. Immunol. 34, 1673–1679 (2004). This binding analysis shows that KIR3DL2 has a binding specificity that is more similar to an αβ TCR than those of the HLA-B-specific KIR3DL1 and the HLA-C-specific KIR2DL1, KIR2DL2 and KIR2DL3. KIR3DL2 binds HLA-A3 and HLA-A11 but only when they are bound to a specific peptide, the known example being a peptide derived from Epstein–Barr virus.
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Artavanis-Tsakonas, K. et al. Activation of a subset of human NK cells upon contact with _Plasmodium falciparum_-infected erythrocytes. J. Immunol. 171, 5396–5405 (2003).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Sagoo, G. S. et al. Meta-analysis of genome-wide studies of psoriasis susceptibility reveals linkage to chromosomes 6p21 and 4q28–31 in Caucasian and Chinese Hans population. J. Invest. Dermatol. 122, 1401–1405 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Luszczek, W. et al. Gene for the activating natural killer cell receptor, KIR2DS1, is associated with susceptibility to psoriasis vulgaris. Hum. Immunol. 65, 758–766 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Suzuki, Y. et al. Genetic polymorphisms of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors are associated with susceptibility to psoriasis vulgaris. J. Invest. Dermatol. 122, 1133–1136 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Martin, M. P. et al. Susceptibility to psoriatic arthritis: influence of activating killer Ig-like receptor genes in the absence of specific HLA-C alleles. J. Immunol. 169, 2818–2822 (2002).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Nelson, G. W. et al. Heterozygote advantage in autoimmune disease: hierarchy of protection/susceptibility conferred by HLA and killer Ig-like receptor combinations in psoriatic arthritis. J. Immunol. 173, 4273–4276 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• van der Slik, A. R. et al. KIR in type 1 diabetes: disparate distribution of activating and inhibitory natural killer cell receptors in patients versus HLA-matched control subjects. Diabetes 52, 2639–2642 (2003).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Momot, T. et al. Association of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors with scleroderma. Arthritis Rheum. 50, 1561–1565 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Yen, J. H. et al. Major histocompatibility complex class I-recognizing receptors are disease risk genes in rheumatoid arthritis. J. Exp. Med. 193, 1159–1168 (2001).
  Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
• Poszepczynska-Guigne, E. et al. CD158k/KIR3DL2 is a new phenotypic marker of Sezary cells: relevance for the diagnosis and follow-up of Sezary syndrome. J. Invest. Dermatol. 122, 820–823 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Mitsui, T. et al. Characteristic expansion of CD45RA+ CD27− CD28− CCR7− lymphocytes with stable natural killer (NK) receptor expression in NK- and T-cell lymphoproliferative disease of granular lymphocytes. Br. J. Haematol. 126, 55–62 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Pascal, V. et al. Comparative analysis of NK cell subset distribution in normal and lymphoproliferative disease of granular lymphocyte conditions. Eur. J. Immunol. 34, 2930–2940 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Epling-Burnette, P. K. et al. Dysregulated NK receptor expression in patients with lymphoproliferative disease of granular lymphocytes. Blood 103, 3431–3439 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Zambello, R. et al. Expression and function of KIR and natural cytotoxicity receptors in NK-type lymphoproliferative diseases of granular lymphocytes. Blood 102, 1797–1805 (2003).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Warren, H. S., Christiansen, F. T. & Witt, C. S. Functional inhibitory human leukocyte antigen class I receptors on natural killer (NK) cells in patients with chronic NK lymphocytosis. Br. J. Haematol. 121, 793–804 (2003).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Morice, W. G., Kurtin, P. J., Leibson, P. J., Tefferi, A. & Hanson, C. A. Demonstration of aberrant T-cell and natural-killer cell antigen expression in all cases of granular lymphocytic leukaemia. Br. J. Haematol. 120, 1026–1036 (2003).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Uhrberg, M. et al. The repertoire of KIR and CD94:NKG2A receptors in T cells: clones sharing identical αβ TCR rearrangements express highly diverse KIR patterns. J. Immunol. 166, 3923–3932 (2001).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Vely, F. et al. Regulation of inhibitory and activating killer-cell Ig-like receptor expression occurs in T cells after termination of TCR rearrangements. J. Immunol. 166, 2487–2494 (2001).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Snyder, M. R. et al. Formation of the killer Ig-like receptor repertoire on CD4+ CD28null T cells clonally expanded in rheumatoid arthritis. J. Immunol. 168, 3839–3846 (2002).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Verheyden, S., Bernier, M. & Demanet, C. Identification of natural killer cell phenotypes associated with leukemia. Leukemia 18, 2002–2007 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Parham, P. & McQueen, K. L. Alloreactive killer cells: hindrance and help for haematopoietic transplants. Nature Rev. Immunol. 3, 108–122 (2003).
  Article CAS Google Scholar
• Ruggeri, L. et al. Effectiveness of donor natural killer cell alloreactivity in mismatched hematopoietic transplants. Science 295, 2097–2100 (2002). This paper shows how alloreactive NK cells can improve the outcome of haploidentical transplantation for leukaemia by preventing GVHD and relapse. Historically, haploidentical transplantation has had a poor prognosis, but publication of this paper has stimulated a reconsideration of its potential applications.
  Article CAS Google Scholar
• Giebel, S. et al. Survival advantage with KIR ligand incompatibility in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from unrelated donors. Blood 102, 814–819 (2003).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Leung, W. et al. Determinants of antileukemia effects of allogeneic NK cells. J. Immunol. 172, 644–650 (2004). NK-cell alloreactions are usually considered to arise when an allogeneic target cell lacks an inhibitory MHC class I molecule that is a ligand for the NK cells of the donor. In this situation, the NK cells seem to recognize the missing self-MHC class I molecule. The authors propose that, under the perturbed conditions that exist after a haematopoietic stem-cell transplant, there can be transient alloreactions that do not conform to 'missing-self' recognition; these are anticipated when the stem-cell donor has an inhibitory HLA-specific KIR for which the recipient has no matching inhibitory HLA class I molecule. This approach emphasizes the matching of cognate ligands with receptors and not the differences between one set of ligands and another. It is the same concept that is used to analyse the NK-cell reactions in pregnancy, a situation to which missing self does not pertain.
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Dupont, B. & Hsu, K. C. Inhibitory killer Ig-like receptor genes and human leukocyte class I ligands in haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Curr. Opin. Immunol. 16, 634–643 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Bishara, A. et al. The beneficial role of inhibitory KIR genes of HLA class I NK epitopes in haploidentically mismatched stem cell allografts may be masked by residual donor-alloreactive T cells causing GVHD. Tissue Antigens 63, 204–211 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Davies, S. M. et al. Evaluation of KIR ligand incompatibility in mismatched unrelated donor hematopoietic transplants. Blood 100, 3825–3827 (2002).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Schaffer, M., Malmberg, K. -J., Ringden, O., Ljunggren, H. -G. & Remberger, M. Increased infection-related mortality in KIR-ligand-mismatched unrelated allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation. Transplantation 78, 1081–1085 (2004).
  Article PubMed Google Scholar
• Bornhauser, M. et al. Role of KIR ligand incompatibility in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation using unrelated donors. Blood 103, 2860–2861 (2004).
  Article PubMed Google Scholar
• Gagne, K. et al. Relevance of KIR gene polymorphisms in bone marrow transplantation outcome. Hum. Immunol. 63, 271–280 (2002).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Cook, M. A. et al. The impact of donor KIR and patient HLA-C genotypes on outcome following HLA-identical sibling hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for myeloid leukemia. Blood 103, 1521–1526 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Uhrberg, M., Parham, P. & Wernet, P. Definition of gene content for nine common group B haplotypes of the Caucasoid population: KIR haplotypes contain between seven and eleven genes. Immunogenetics 54, 221–229 (2002).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Hsu, K. C. et al. Killer Ig-like receptor haplotype analysis by gene content: evidence for genomic diversity with a minimum of six basic framework haplotypes, each with multiple subsets. J. Immunol. 169, 5118–5129 (2002).
  Article PubMed Google Scholar
• Grau, R., et al. Cytotoxic activity of natural killer cells lacking killer-inhibitory receptors for self HLA class I molecules against autologous hematopoietic stem cells in healthy individuals. Exp. Mol. Pathol. 76, 90–98 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Valiante, N. M. et al. Functionally and structurally distinct NK cell receptor repertoires in the peripheral blood of two human donors. Immunity 7, 739–751 (1997).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Waterston, R. H. et al. Initial sequencing and comparative analysis of the mouse genome. Nature 420, 520–562 (2002).
  Article CAS Google Scholar
• Hsu, K. C., Chida, S., Geraghty, D. E. & Dupont, B. The killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) genomic region: gene-order, haplotypes and allelic polymorphism. Immunol. Rev. 190, 40–52 (2002).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Yawata, M., Yawata, N., Abi-Rached, L. & Parham, P. Variation within the human killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) gene family. Crit. Rev. Immunol. 22, 463–482 (2002).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Halfpenny, I. A., Middleton, D., Barnett, Y. A. & Williams, F. Investigation of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor gene diversity: IV. KIR3DL1/S1. Hum. Immunol. 65, 602–612 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Martin, M. P., Basirova, A., Traherne, J., Trowsdale, J. & Carrington, M. Expansion of the KIR locus by unequal crossing over. J. Immunol. 171, 2192–2195 (2003).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Gomez-Lozano, N. et al. The silent KIR3DP1 gene (CD158c) is transcribed and might encode a secreted receptor in a minority of humans, in whom the KIR3DP1, KIR2DL4 and KIR3DL1/KIR3DS1 genes are duplicated. Eur. J. Immunol. 35, 16–24 (2005).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Goodridge, J. P., Witt, C. S., Christiansen, F. T. & Warren, H. S. KIR2DL4 (CD158d) genotype influences expression and function in NK cells. J. Immunol. 171, 1768–1774 (2003).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Kikuchi-Maki, A., Yusa, S. -I., Catina, T. L. & Campbell, K. S. KIR2DL4 is an IL-2-regulated NK cell receptor that exhibits limited expression in humans but triggers strong IFN-γ production. J. Immunol. 171, 3415–3425 (2003).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Faure, M. & Long, E. O. KIR2DL4 (CD158d), an NK cell-activating receptor with inhibitory potential. J. Immunol. 168, 6208–6214 (2002).
  Article CAS Google Scholar
• Maxwell, L. D., Wallace, A., Middleton, D. & Curran, M. D. A common KIR2DS4 deletion variant in the human that predicts a soluble KIR molecule analogous to the KIR1D molecule observed in the rhesus monkey. Tissue Antigens 60, 254–258 (2002).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Pando, M. J., Gardiner, C. M., Gleimer, M., McQueen, K. L. & Parham, P. The protein made from a common allele of KIR3DL1 (3DL1*004) is poorly expressed at cell surfaces due to substitution at positions 86 in Ig domain 0 and 182 in Ig domain 1. J. Immunol. 171, 6640–6649 (2003).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Sivori, S. et al. IL-21 induces both rapid maturation of human CD34+ cell precursors towards NK cells and acquisition of surface killer Ig-like receptors. Eur. J. Immunol. 33, 3439–3447 (2003).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Belkin, D. et al. Killer cell Ig-like receptor and leukocyte Ig-like receptor transgenic mice exhibit tissue- and cell-specific transgene expression. J. Immunol. 171, 3056–3063 (2003).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Stewart, C. A., van Bergen, B. & Trowsdale, J. T. Different and divergent regulation of the KIR2DL4 and KIR3DL1 promoters. J. Immunol. 170, 6073–6081 (2003).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Trompeter, H. -I. et al. Three structurally and functionally divergent kinds of promoter regulate expression of clonally distributed KIR, of KIR2DL4 and KIR3DL3. J. Immunol. (in the press).
• Santourlidis, S. et al. Crucial role of DNA methylation in determination of clonally distributed killer cell Ig-like receptor expression patterns in NK cells. J. Immunol. 169, 4253–4261 (2002).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Chan, H. -W. et al. DNA methylation maintains allele-specific KIR gene expression in human natural killer cells. J. Exp. Med. 197, 245–255 (2003).
  Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
• Shilling, H. G. et al. Genetic control of human NK cell repertoire. J. Immunol. 169, 239–247 (2002).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Snyder, M. R., Nakajima, T., Leibson, P. J., Weyand, C. M. & Goronzy, J. J. Stimulatory killer Ig-like receptors modulate T cell activation through DAP12-dependent and DAP12-indepenent mechanisms. J. Immunol. 173, 3725–3731 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Martin., A. M. et al. Comparative genomic analysis, diversity and evolution of two KIR haplotypes A and B. Gene 335, 121–131 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Takahashi, T. et al. Natural killer cell receptors in the horse: evidence for the existence of multiple transcribed LY49 genes. Eur. J. Immunol. 34, 773–784 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Storset, A. K., Slettedal, I. O., Williams, J. L., Law, A. & Dissen, E. Natural killer cell receptors in cattle: a bovine killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor multigene family contains members with divergent signaling motifs. Eur. J. Immunol. 33, 980–990 (2003).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Gagnier, L., Wilhelm, B. T. & Mager, D. L. Ly49 genes in non-rodent mammals. Immunogenetics 55, 109–115 (2003).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Rajalingam, R., Parham, P. & Abi-Rached, L. Domain shuffling has been the main mechanism forming new hominoid killer cell Ig-like receptors. J. Immunol. 172, 356–369 (2004).
  Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
• Rajalingam, R. et al. Short KIR haplotypes in pygmy chimpanzee (Bonobo) resemble the conserved framework of diverse human KIR haplotypes. J. Exp. Med. 193, 135–146 (2001).
  Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar