title: Immune memory redefined: characterizing the longevity of natural killer cells.
abstract: Natural killer (NK) cells respond rapidly to transformed, stressed, or virally infected cells and provide a first-line immune defense against pathogen invasion and cancer. Thought to involve short-lived effector cells that are armed for battle, NK cells were not previously known to contribute in recall responses to pathogen re-encounter. Here, we highlight recent discoveries demonstrating that NK cells are not limited to driving primary immune responses to foreign antigen but can mount secondary responses contributing to immune memory. We also further characterize the phenotype and function of long-lived memory NK cells generated during viral infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Cancer Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Joshua N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Beilke
authors.forename: Lewis L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Lanier
mesh_terms: D056704:Adaptive Immunity / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory / Q000276:immunology*; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology*; D018448:Models, Immunological; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology; D013997:Time Factors; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology