Role of Class I MHC Receptors in Innate Immune Responses

Natural killer (NK) cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) are necessary for anti-viral responses early after infection and against cancer induction. NK cells kill infected and cancerous cells, while pDC produce proteins that travel throughout the body to inhibit viral infection. Both cell types have receptors on their surface for class I MHC, a protein that is a marker of healthy, uninfected and non-cancerous cells. These receptors in mice are called Ly49. We have produced Ly49-deficient mutant mice and through these plus other molecular techniques will try to assess the importance of these proteins during immune responses to viruses and cancers mediated by the innate immune system.