A new study presented today at the International Liver CongressTM shows a novel pathway where activated natural killer (NK) cells expressing death ligands may excessively down-modulate the antiviral immune response in chronic HBV patients.1
Blocking the TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) pathway partially reconstitutes HBV-specific T cells, suggesting that these cells are vulnerable to NK cell-mediated apoptosis through this death ligand pathway.
NK cells are one of the main effectors of the innate immune response that plays a key role in containing intracellular pathogen infections. However, it has been increasingly recognised that NK cells may also exert a pathogenic and negative regulatory role during chronic disease.
References
1. Peppa, D. et al. Fratricide of HBV-specific CD8 T cells by NK cells mediated through the TRAIL pathway. Abstract presented at The International Liver CongressTM 2011.