Natural killer (NK) cells are cytotoxic innate lymphocytes with key roles in host protection against viruses and malignancy. Notwithstanding their historical classification as innate immune cells, NK cells are now understood to have some capacity to mount memory or memory‐like immune responses in which effector cells undergo antigen‐driven expansion and give rise to long‐lived memory cells with enhanced functionality. Understanding how antigen‐specific effector and memory NK responses are regulated is an important and active area of research in the field. Here, we discuss key transcription factors and epigenetic processes involved in antigen‐specific effector and memory NK cell differentiation.

中文翻译：

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记忆NK细胞反应的转录和表观遗传调控

自然杀伤 (NK) 细胞是具有细胞毒性的先天淋巴细胞，在宿主抵抗病毒和恶性肿瘤的保护中起关键作用。尽管 NK 细胞在历史上被归类为先天免疫细胞，但现在人们认为 NK 细胞具有一定的能力来产生记忆或类似记忆的免疫反应，其中效应细胞经历抗原驱动的扩增并产生具有增强功能的长寿命记忆细胞。了解如何调节抗原特异性效应和记忆 NK 反应是该领域一个重要且活跃的研究领域。在这里，我们讨论了参与抗原特异性效应和记忆 NK 细胞分化的关键转录因子和表观遗传过程。