Immunomodulation of the natural killer cell phenotype and response during HCV infection

Gaitan Fabrice Njiomegnie, Scott A. Read, Nicole Fewings, Jacob George, Fiona McKay, Golo Ahlenstiel

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection develops into chronic hepatitis in over two-thirds of acute infections. While current treatments with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) achieve HCV eradication in >95% of cases, no vaccine is available and re-infection can readily occur. Natural killer (NK) cells represent a key cellular component of the innate immune system, participating in early defence against infectious diseases, viruses, and cancers. When acute infection becomes chronic, however, NK cell function is altered. This has been well studied in the context of HCV, where changes in frequency and distribution of NK cell populations have been reported. While activating receptors are downregulated on NK cells in both acute and chronic infection, NK cell inhibiting receptors are upregulated in chronic HCV infection, leading to altered NK cell responsiveness. Furthermore, chronic activation of NK cells following HCV infection contributes to liver inflammation and disease progression through enhanced cytotoxicity. Consequently, the NK immune response is a double-edged sword that is a significant component of the innate immune antiviral response, but persistent activation can drive tissue damage during chronic infection. This review will summarise the role of NK cells in HCV infection, and the changes that occur during HCV therapy.
Original languageEnglish
Article number1030
Number of pages19
JournalJournal of Clinical Medicine
Volume9
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Open Access - Access Right Statement

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Keywords

  • hepatitis C
  • infection
  • interferon
  • killer cells

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