Expression of HLA class I-specific inhibitory receptors in human cytolytic T lymphocytes: a regulated mechanism that controls T-cell activation and function

MC Mingari, M Ponte, C Vitale, R Bellomo, L Moretta - Human Immunology, 2000 - Elsevier
Different families of major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-specific inhibitory receptors
(NKRs) play a major role in natural killer (NK) cell function, allowing discrimination between
normal cells and cells that do not express adequate amounts of MHC class I antigens. This
occurs in most instances as a consequence of viral infection or tumor transformation. In T
lymphocytes, expression of NKR is mostly confined to activated CD8+ cytolytic T
lymphocytes (CTLs). While NKR expression by CTLs may be viewed as a mechanism …