WASH has a critical role in NK cell cytotoxicity through Lck-mediated phosphorylation.

ABSTRACT: Natural killer (NK) cells are important effector cells of the innate immune system to kill certain virus-infected and transformed cells. Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome protein (WASP) and SCAR homolog (WASH) has been identified as a member of WASP family proteins implicated in regulating the cytoskeletal reorganization, yet little is known about its function in lymphocytes. Here we demonstrate that WASH is crucial for NK cell cytotoxicity. WASH was found to colocalize with lytic granules upon NK cell activation. Knockdown of WASH expression substantially inhibited polarization and release of lytic granules to the immune synapse, resulting in the impairment of NK cell cytotoxicity. More importantly, our data also define a previously unappreciated mechanism for WASH function, in which Src family ki

SUBMITTER: Huang L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4973352 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature