Fig. 3.43 The ligands for the activating NK receptor NKG2D are proteins that are expressed in conditions of cellular stress. The MIC proteins MIC-A and MIC-B are MHC-like molecules induced on epithelial and other cells by stress, such as DNA damage, cellular transformation, or infection. RAET1 family members, including the subset designated as UL16-binding proteins (ULBPs), also resemble a portion of an MHC class I molecule—the α1 and α2 domains—and most (but not all) are attached to the cell via a glycophosphatidylinositol linkage. Unlike MHC class I molecules, the NKG2D ligands do not bind processed peptides.
NKG2D also differs from other activating receptors on NK cells in the signaling pathway it engages within the cell. The other activating receptors are associated intracellularly with signaling proteins such as the CD3ζ chain, the Fc receptor γ chain, and DAP12, which all contain ITAMs. In contrast, NKG2D binds a different adaptor protein, DAP10, which does not contain an ITAM sequence and instead activates the intracellular lipid kinase phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase), initiating a different series of intracellular signaling events in the NK cell (see Section 7-4). Generally, PI 3-kinase is considered to enhance the survival of cells in which it is activated, thereby augmenting the cell’s overall effector activity. In NK cells, activation of PI 3-kinase is directly linked to the induction of cytotoxic activity. In mice, the workings of NKG2D are even more complicated, because mouse NKG2D is produced in two alternatively spliced forms, one of which binds DAP12 and DAP10, whereas the other binds only DAP10. Mouse NKG2D can thus activate both signaling pathways, whereas human NKG2D seems to signal only through DAP10 to activate the PI 3-kinase pathway. Finally, NK cells express several receptors from the SLAM (signaling lymphocyte activation molecule) family, including 2B4, which recognizes the cell-surface molecule CD48 expressed by many cells including NK cells. Interactions between 2B4 and CD48 on nearby NK cells can release signals that promote survival and proliferation through SAP (SLAM-associated protein) and the Src kinase Fyn.
Summary.