NK cells are the major lymphocyte subset of the innate immune system that mediates antiviral and anti-tumor responses. It is well established that they develop mechanisms to distinguish self from non-self during the process of NK cell education. Unlike T and B cells, natural killer cells lack clonotypic receptors and are activated after recognizing their target via germline-encoded receptors through natural cytotoxicity, cytokine stimulation, and Ab-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. Subsequently, they utilize cytotoxic granules, death receptor ligands, and cytokines to perform their effector functions. In this review, we provide a general overview of human NK cells, as opposed to murine NK cells, discussing their ontogeny, maturation, receptor diversity, types of responses, and effector functions. Furthermore, we also describe recent advances in human NK cell biology, including tissue-resident NK cell populations, NK cell memory, and novel approaches used to target NK cells in cancer immunotherapy.

NK 细胞是先天免疫系统中介导抗病毒和抗肿瘤反应的主要淋巴细胞亚群。众所周知，他们在 NK 细胞教育过程中形成了区分自我和非自我的机制。与 T 细胞和 B 细胞不同，自然杀伤细胞缺乏克隆型受体，并在通过种系编码受体通过天然细胞毒性、细胞因子刺激和 Ab 依赖性细胞毒性识别其靶标后被激活。随后，它们利用细胞毒性颗粒、死亡受体配体和细胞因子来执行它们的效应器功能。在这篇综述中，我们提供了人类 NK 细胞的一般概述，而不是鼠 NK 细胞，讨论了它们的个体发育、成熟、受体多样性、反应类型和效应器功能。此外，