Abstract
The immunoglobulin-like receptors provide positive and negative regulation of immune cells upon recognition of various ligands, thus enabling those cells to respond properly to extrinsic stimuli. Murine paired immunoglobulin-like receptor (PIR)-A and PIR-B, a typical receptor pair of the immunoglobulin-like receptor family, are expressed on a wide range of cells in the immune system, such as B cells, mast cells, macrophages and dendritic cells, mostly in a pair-wise fashion. The PIR-A requires the homodimeric Fc receptor common γ chain for its efficient cell-surface expression and for the delivery of an activation signal. In contrast, PIR-B inhibits receptor-mediated activation signals in vitro upon engagement with other activating-type receptors, such as the antigen receptor on B cells and the high-affinity Fc receptor for immunoglobulin E on mast cells. Recent identification of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules as the physiological ligands for PIR has enabled us to attribute various immunological phenotypes observed in PIR-B-deficient mice to the consequences of the absence of a balanced interaction between PIR and MHC class I molecules expressed ubiquitously. Thus, PIR-A and PIR-B constitute a novel and physiologically important MHC class I recognition system.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 433-440 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Immunology |
Volume | 115 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2005 Aug |
Keywords
- Autoimmunity
- Graft-versus-host disease
- Hypersensitivity
- Paired immunoglobulin-like receptors
- Th2 response
- Transplantation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology and Allergy
- Immunology