Tuesday February 23, 2010, from 12.00 to 13.00
Hanspeter Pircher
University of Freiburg, Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Freiburg, Germany

"The inhibitory NK receptor KLRG1: A nice marker but what is the function ?"

The talk will focus on the inhibitory NK cell receptor KLRG1 (Killer cell Lectin-like Receptor G1) that is expressed in antigen-experienced T cells and NK cells. Viral and bacterial infections strongly induce KLRG1 expression and KLRG1 is widely used to identify T and NK cells that are approaching the end of their differentiation stage. Members of the classical cadherin family have been identified as ligands for KLRG1 and inhibition of lymphocyte function by interaction of KLRG1 with E-cadherin has been demonstrated. I will review the data on KLRG1 as a lymphocyte differentiation marker in men and mice and provide new structural and functional aspects of KLRG1/cadherin interactions. Beside KLRG1, I will also present experiments on the role of antibodies to prevent T cell exhaustion using lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) in mice and summarize our attempts in murine models to generate protective CD8 T cells using retroviral TCR gene transfer.