title: Flow Cytometry-based Assay for the Monitoring of NK Cell Functions.
abstract: Natural killer (NK) cells are an important part of the human tumor immune surveillance system. NK cells are able to distinguish between healthy and virus-infected or malignantly transformed cells due to a set of germline encoded inhibitory and activating receptors. Upon virus or tumor cell recognition a variety of different NK cell functions are initiated including cytotoxicity against the target cell as well as cytokine and chemokine production leading to the activation of other immune cells. It has been demonstrated that accurate NK cell functions are crucial for the treatment outcome of different virus infections and malignant diseases. Here a simple and reliable method is described to analyze different NK cell functions using a flow cytometry-based assay. NK cell functions can be evaluated not only for the whole NK cell population, but also for different NK cell subsets. This technique enables scientists to easily study NK cell functions in healthy donors or patients in order to reveal their impact on different malignancies and to further discover new therapeutic strategies.
authors.affiliation: Childrens Hospital, Department of Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation and Immunology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University; LOEWE Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tognarelli
authors.affiliation: Institute for Cancer Research, Department of Cancer Immunology, Oslo University Hospital, Radiumhospital; The KG Jebsen Center for Cancer Immunotherapy, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo.
authors.forename: Benedikt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.affiliation: Childrens Hospital, Department of Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation and Immunology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University; LOEWE Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University.
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Staiger
authors.affiliation: Childrens Hospital, Department of Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation and Immunology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University; LOEWE Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University; Evelyn.Ullrich@kgu.de.
authors.forename: Evelyn
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ullrich
mesh_terms: D016207:Cytokines; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural; D009369:Neoplasms
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines