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What is a natural killer cell?

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Natural killer cells have been arbitrarily defined using a number of different phenotypic and functional criteria. We asked Lorenzo Moretta if we have truly discovered the core identity of this critical player in eliciting immune responses.

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Figure 1: Receptors and ligands involved in human NK cell–mediated cytotoxicity.
Figure 2: Donor NK cell–mediated killing of leukemic cells: more than a dream in bone marrow transplantation.

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Acknowledgements

Supported by grants awarded by Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Progetto Finalizzato Biotecnologie, MURST-CNR 5% CNR Biotechnology program 95/95 and Telethon-Italy (grant number E.0892).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova, Italy

    Alessandro Moretta & Lorenzo Moretta

  2. Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro, Genova, Italy

    Cristina Bottino, Maria Cristina Mingari & Roberto Biassoni

  3. Dipartimento di Oncologia, Biologia e Genetica, Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova, Italy

    Maria Cristina Mingari

  4. Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genova, Italy

    Lorenzo Moretta

Authors
  1. Alessandro Moretta
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  2. Cristina Bottino
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  3. Maria Cristina Mingari
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  4. Roberto Biassoni
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  5. Lorenzo Moretta
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lorenzo Moretta.

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Moretta, A., Bottino, C., Mingari, M. et al. What is a natural killer cell?. Nat Immunol 3, 6–8 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/ni0102-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ni0102-6

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