Natural Killer Cells 1999.3.17

Natural Killer Cells 1999.3.17

The body’s immune system contains a type of natural killer cell that becomes active and begins to attack when the body encounters infection, tumors, or foreign substances, thereby eliminating nearby abnormal antigens. These cells exhibit extraordinary selectivity, distinguishing between healthy and unhealthy cells at a level that even microcomputers cannot achieve. Recently, Marcos from the Stanford Research Group at the University of California proposed the “self-miss” theory, suggesting that the surface receptors of natural killer cells serve as markers for identifying human antigens. Some antigens can “turn off” themselves to evade detection by killer cells, while others are eliminated by natural killer cells. The antigens that manage to “turn off” themselves give rise to the existence and continuation of infections or cancers. Whether the phenomenon of rejection in bone marrow or organ transplantation can achieve ideal outcomes through research on the “self-miss” theory remains a question that the scientific community is eagerly awaiting answers to.