Regulation and diversity of ligands for NK receptors in immunity

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K08328
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Human genetics
• Research Institution: Tokyo Medical and Dental University
• Principal Investigator: NARUSE Taeko 東京医科歯科大学, 難治疾患研究所, プロジェクト助教 (80422476)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 木村 彰方 東京医科歯科大学, 難治疾患研究所, 教授 (60161551)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: NKレセプターリガンド / ULBP / MIC / ゲノム多様性 / 遺伝子発現

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Natural-killer group 2 member D (NKG2D), a C-type lectin molecule, is an activating receptor. In human, UL-16 binding protein (ULBP) / retinoic acid early transcript 1 (REAT1) family and MHC class I chain-related gene, MICA and MICB, are known to encode ligands for NKG2D. A polymorphism causing a valine to methionine exchange at position129 affects binding to NKG2D, cytotoxicity, interferon-γ release by NK cells and activation of CD8+ T cells. We investigated whether the polymorphism affects susceptibility to inflammatory disease such as Ulcerative colitis (UC), Crohn's disease (CD) and Takayasu disease. We found significantly higher frequencies of MIC129V/V in patients with UC or Takayasu disease whereas no association was found for CD.

Free Research Field

免疫遺伝学