title: Natural killer cell granules converge to avoid collateral damage.
abstract: To clear infection, cytotoxic lymphocytes must destroy target cells while avoiding nonspecific killing of surrounding healthy cells. In this issue, Hsu et al. (2016. J. Cell Biol. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201604136) use live-cell imaging to show that lytic granule convergence protects bystander cells from unintended death by promoting polarized secretion of soluble cytolytic proteins toward the intended target.
authors.affiliation: Genentech, South San Francisco, CA 94080 ritter.alex@gene.com.
authors.forename: Alex T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Ritter
authors.affiliation: Genentech, South San Francisco, CA 94080.
authors.forename: Ira
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mellman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003594:Cytoplasmic Granules / Q000378:metabolism*; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000378:metabolism*; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology