TY - JOUR
T1 - Genes encoding putative natural killer cell C-type lectin receptors in teleostean fishes
AU - Sato, Akie
AU - Mayer, Werner E.
AU - Overath, Peter
AU - Klein, Jan
PY - 2003/6/24
Y1 - 2003/6/24
N2 - Mammalian natural killer (NK) cells are cytotoxic lymphocytes that express receptors specific for MHC class I molecules. The NK cell receptors belong to two structurally unrelated families, the killer cell Ig-like receptors and the killer cell C-type lectin receptors. We describe a cDNA clone derived from the bony (cichlid) fish Paralabidochromis chilotes and show that it encodes a protein related to the CD94/NK cell group 2 (NKG2) subfamily of the killer cell C-type lectin receptors. The gene encoding this receptor in a related species, Oreochromis niloticus, has a similar structure to the human CD94/NKG2 genes and is a member of a multigene cluster that resembles the mammalian NK cell gene complex. Thus, the CD94/NKG2 subfamily of NK cell receptors must have arisen before the divergence of fish and tetrapods and may have retained its function (possibly monitoring the expression of MHC class I molecules) for >400 million years.
AB - Mammalian natural killer (NK) cells are cytotoxic lymphocytes that express receptors specific for MHC class I molecules. The NK cell receptors belong to two structurally unrelated families, the killer cell Ig-like receptors and the killer cell C-type lectin receptors. We describe a cDNA clone derived from the bony (cichlid) fish Paralabidochromis chilotes and show that it encodes a protein related to the CD94/NK cell group 2 (NKG2) subfamily of the killer cell C-type lectin receptors. The gene encoding this receptor in a related species, Oreochromis niloticus, has a similar structure to the human CD94/NKG2 genes and is a member of a multigene cluster that resembles the mammalian NK cell gene complex. Thus, the CD94/NKG2 subfamily of NK cell receptors must have arisen before the divergence of fish and tetrapods and may have retained its function (possibly monitoring the expression of MHC class I molecules) for >400 million years.
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U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1235938100
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1235938100
M3 - Article
C2 - 12802013
AN - SCOPUS:0037934454
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 100
SP - 7779
EP - 7784
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 13
ER -