Natural killer (NK) cells are innate immune cells equipped with the ability to rapidly kill stressed cells that are neoplastic or virally infected. These cells are especially important in settings where these stressed cells downregulate MHC class I molecules and evade recognition by cytotoxic T cells. However, the activity of NK cells alone is often suboptimal to fully control tumor growth or to clear viral infections. Thus, the enhancement of NK cell function is necessary to fully harness their antitumor or antiviral potential. In this review, we discuss how NK cell function can be augmented by the modulation of signal transduction pathways, by the manipulation of inhibitory/activating receptors on NK cells, and by cytokine-induced activation. We also discuss how some of these strategies are currently impacting NK cells in the treatment of cancer and infections.

中文翻译：

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增强NK细胞功能以治疗肿瘤和感染的策略。

天然杀伤（NK）细胞是先天免疫细胞，具有迅速杀死肿瘤或病毒感染的应激细胞的能力。这些细胞在这些压力细胞下调MHC I类分子并逃避细胞毒性T细胞识别的环境中尤其重要。然而，仅NK细胞的活性常常不足以完全控制肿瘤的生长或清除病毒感染。因此，增强NK细胞功能是充分利用其抗肿瘤或抗病毒潜力所必需的。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了如何通过调节信号转导途径，通过操纵NK细胞上的抑制/激活受体以及通过细胞因子诱导的激活来增强NK细胞的功能。