title: Differential binding to HLA-C of p50-activating and p58-inhibitory natural killer cell receptors.
abstract: Natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity is regulated in large part by the expression of NK cell receptors able to bind class I major histocompatibility complex glycoproteins. The receptors associated with recognition of HLA-C allospecificities are the two-domain Ig-like molecules, p50 and p58 proteins, with highly homologous extracellular domains but differing in that they have either an activating or inhibitory function, respectively, depending on the transmembrane domain and cytoplasmic tails that they possess. We have compared the binding to HLA-Cw7 of an inhibitory p58 molecule, NKAT2, the highly homologous activating p50 molecule, clone 49, and a second activating p50 molecule, clone 39, which has homologies to both NKAT1 and NKAT2. NKAT2 binds to HLA-Cw7 with very rapid association and dissociation rates. However, the p50 receptors bind only very weakly, if at all, to HLA-C. The molecular basis of this difference is analyzed, and the functional significance of these observations is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 7 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Valés-Gómez
authors.forename: H T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Reyburn
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Erskine
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Strominger
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004926:Escherichia coli; D015236:HLA-C Antigens / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology*; D007700:Kinetics; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017510:Protein Folding; D011971:Receptors, Immunologic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D054340:Receptors, KIR; D054342:Receptors, KIR2DL1; D054344:Receptors, KIR2DL3; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D015236:HLA-C Antigens; C040178:HLA-C*70 antigen; C093100:KIR2DL1 protein, human; C515078:KIR2DL3 protein, human; D011971:Receptors, Immunologic; D054340:Receptors, KIR; D054342:Receptors, KIR2DL1; D054344:Receptors, KIR2DL3; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C098615:p50 natural killer cell receptor