title: HIV-1 Vpu disarms natural killer cells.
abstract: Natural killer (NK)-cell killing of virus-infected cells is regulated in part by the engagement of activation and coactivation receptors. In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Shah et al. (2010) demonstrate that HIV-1 protects infected cells from NK-cell-mediated killing by hindering NK-cell degranulation through downmodulation of NTB-A coactivation receptor ligands by the Vpu accessory protein.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Human Retrovirology, Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montréal and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC H2W 1R7, Canada.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Richard
authors.forename: Éric A
authors.initials: ÉA
authors.lastname: Cohen