KLRC4 explained

NKG2-F type II integral membrane protein is a protein that in humans is encoded by the KLRC4 gene.^{[1] [2]}

Natural killer (NK) cells are lymphocytes that can mediate lysis of certain tumor cells and virus-infected cells without previous activation. They can also regulate specific humoral and cell-mediated immunity. NK cells preferentially express several calcium-dependent (C-type) lectins, which have been implicated in the regulation of NK cell function. KLRC4 is a member of the NKG2 group which are expressed primarily in natural killer (NK) cells and encodes a family of transmembrane proteins characterized by a type II membrane orientation (extracellular C terminus) and the presence of a C-type lectin domain. The NKG2 gene family is located within the NK complex, a region that contains several C-type lectin genes preferentially expressed on NK cells. The 3' end of the KLRC4 transcript includes the first non-coding exon found at the 5' end of the adjacent D12S2489E gene transcript.

Further reading

• Vivier E, Tomasello E, Paul P . Lymphocyte activation via NKG2D: towards a new paradigm in immune recognition? . Curr. Opin. Immunol. . 14 . 3 . 306–11 . 2002 . 11973127 . 10.1016/S0952-7915(02)00337-0 .
• Houchins JP, Yabe T, McSherry C, Bach FH . DNA sequence analysis of NKG2, a family of related cDNA clones encoding type II integral membrane proteins on human natural killer cells . J. Exp. Med. . 173 . 4 . 1017–20 . 1991 . 2007850 . 10.1084/jem.173.4.1017 . 2190798 .
• Yabe T, McSherry C, Bach FH, etal . A multigene family on human chromosome 12 encodes natural killer-cell lectins . Immunogenetics . 37 . 6 . 455–60 . 1993 . 8436421 . 10.1007/BF00222470 . 27350036 .
• Plougastel B, Trowsdale J . Cloning of NKG2-F, a new member of the NKG2 family of human natural killer cell receptor genes . Eur. J. Immunol. . 27 . 11 . 2835–9 . 1998 . 9394807 . 10.1002/eji.1830271114 . 7841240 .
• Glienke J, Sobanov Y, Brostjan C, etal . The genomic organization of NKG2C, E, F, and D receptor genes in the human natural killer gene complex . Immunogenetics . 48 . 3 . 163–73 . 1998 . 9683661 . 10.1007/s002510050420 . 22585415 .
• Bauer S, Groh V, Wu J, etal . Activation of NK cells and T cells by NKG2D, a receptor for stress-inducible MICA . Science . 285 . 5428 . 727–9 . 1999 . 10426993 . 10.1126/science.285.5428.727 .
• Wu J, Song Y, Bakker AB, etal . An activating immunoreceptor complex formed by NKG2D and DAP10 . Science . 285 . 5428 . 730–2 . 1999 . 10426994 . 10.1126/science.285.5428.730 .
• Li P, Morris DL, Willcox BE, etal . Complex structure of the activating immunoreceptor NKG2D and its MHC class I-like ligand MICA . Nat. Immunol. . 2 . 5 . 443–51 . 2001 . 11323699 . 10.1038/87757 . 11096566 .
• O'Callaghan CA, Cerwenka A, Willcox BE, etal . Molecular competition for NKG2D: H60 and RAE1 compete unequally for NKG2D with dominance of H60 . Immunity . 15 . 2 . 201–11 . 2001 . 11520456 . 10.1016/S1074-7613(01)00187-X . free .
• Girardi M, Oppenheim DE, Steele CR, etal . Regulation of cutaneous malignancy by gammadelta T cells . Science . 294 . 5542 . 605–9 . 2001 . 11567106 . 10.1126/science.1063916 . 2001Sci...294..605G . 83809313 . free .
• Shum BP, Flodin LR, Muir DG, etal . Conservation and variation in human and common chimpanzee CD94 and NKG2 genes . J. Immunol. . 168 . 1 . 240–52 . 2002 . 11751968 . 10.4049/jimmunol.168.1.240. free .
• Radaev S, Rostro B, Brooks AG, etal . Conformational plasticity revealed by the cocrystal structure of NKG2D and its class I MHC-like ligand ULBP3 . Immunity . 15 . 6 . 1039–49 . 2002 . 11754823 . 10.1016/S1074-7613(01)00241-2 . free .
• Sutherland CL, Chalupny NJ, Schooley K, etal . UL16-binding proteins, novel MHC class I-related proteins, bind to NKG2D and activate multiple signaling pathways in primary NK cells . J. Immunol. . 168 . 2 . 671–9 . 2002 . 11777960 . 10.4049/jimmunol.168.2.671. free .
• Holmes MA, Li P, Petersdorf EW, Strong RK . Structural studies of allelic diversity of the MHC class I homolog MIC-B, a stress-inducible ligand for the activating immunoreceptor NKG2D . J. Immunol. . 169 . 3 . 1395–400 . 2002 . 12133964 . 10.4049/jimmunol.169.3.1395. free .
• Gilfillan S, Ho EL, Cella M, etal . NKG2D recruits two distinct adapters to trigger NK cell activation and costimulation . Nat. Immunol. . 3 . 12 . 1150–5 . 2002 . 12426564 . 10.1038/ni857 . 5859797 .
• Diefenbach A, Tomasello E, Lucas M, etal . Selective associations with signaling proteins determine stimulatory versus costimulatory activity of NKG2D . Nat. Immunol. . 3 . 12 . 1142–9 . 2002 . 12426565 . 10.1038/ni858 . 14901451 .
• Strausberg RL, Feingold EA, Grouse LH, etal . Generation and initial analysis of more than 15,000 full-length human and mouse cDNA sequences . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. . 99 . 26 . 16899–903 . 2003 . 12477932 . 10.1073/pnas.242603899 . 139241 . 2002PNAS...9916899M . free .
• McFarland BJ, Kortemme T, Yu SF, etal . Symmetry recognizing asymmetry: analysis of the interactions between the C-type lectin-like immunoreceptor NKG2D and MHC class I-like ligands . Structure . 11 . 4 . 411–22 . 2004 . 12679019 . 10.1016/S0969-2126(03)00047-9 . free .

Notes and References

1. Plougastel B, Trowsdale J . Sequence analysis of a 62-kb region overlapping the human KLRC cluster of genes . Genomics . 49 . 2 . 193–9 . Aug 1998 . 9598306 . 10.1006/geno.1997.5197 .
2. Web site: Entrez Gene: KLRC4 killer cell lectin-like receptor subfamily C, member 4.