title: Natural killer cells: walking three paths down memory lane.
abstract: Immunological memory has traditionally been regarded as a unique feature of the adaptive immune response, mediated in an antigen-specific manner by T and B lymphocytes. All other hematopoietic cells, including natural killer (NK) cells, are classified as innate immune cells, which have been considered short-lived but can respond rapidly against pathogens in a manner not thought to be driven by antigen. Interestingly, NK cells have recently been shown to survive long term after antigen exposure and subsequently mediate antigen-specific recall responses. In this review, we address the similarities between, and the controversies surrounding, three major viewpoints of NK memory that have arisen from these recent studies: (i) mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV)-induced memory; (ii) cytokine-induced memory; and (iii) liver-restricted memory cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Cancer Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
authors.forename: Gundula
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Min-Oo
authors.forename: Yosuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kamimura
authors.forename: Deborah W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Hendricks
authors.forename: Tsukasa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nabekura
authors.forename: Lewis L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Lanier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000276:immunology; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000276:immunology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology*; D008099:Liver / Q000276:immunology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D016207:Cytokines