Natural Killer cells (NK cells) are important effector cells of the innate immunity system. In early phases of immune responses these lymphocytes participate in killing virus-infected and malignant cells.
There are activating as well as inhibitory KIRs, the latter recognizing MHC Class I particularly HLA-C molecules. The target cells get lysed, if the sum of the inhibitory KIR signals is weaker than that of the activating. This situation can lead to a Graft versus Leukemia effect (GVL) in bone marrow or stem cell recipients with absent HLA class I determinants, reducing the risk of relapse KIR Ready Gene kit enables molecular biological KIR typing based on the SSP method.
